Stars Asunder
by Ron the True Fan
Summary: Two legendary series. Two legendary creators. One said they would never come to blows, but in all things, there is conflict, no matter how small or large. Star Trek and Star Wars are owned by their respective owners. And remember, don't like, don't review complaining about it.
1. Chapter 1

Stars Asunder

Disclaimer: Pointless as it is to state, we own nothing. If we did, Disney would be bending over to suffer the full might of the Death Star's main weapon going up their collective asses and JJ Abrams wouldn't've made the 09 reboot, its' sequel and the new _Wars _trilogy would not be coming to pass. Long live the EU, motherfuckers.

**Ron the True Fan:** You KNEW this was coming. The day has long since come to pass. The first, and hopefully not last, logically analyzed _Star Trek/Star Wars_ crossover. All the information seen in this fic was almost literally dissected, meaning, bar actually crossing into both universes, this will be THE most accurate _ST/SW_ cross ever seen.

**117Jorn:** We will be trying hard to avoid any biased opinions, and we are operating within the confines of the _Star Wars_ Prequels, the Original Trilogy, and the Expanded Universe. However for _Star Trek_, we are reliant solely on the movies and TV show - as Gene Roddenberry has long since discredited the EU of _Trek_…. oh yeah, and F**k Disney.

**Takeshi Yamato:** We will be using some stuff from _STO_, however. All that said, let's get this party started! :D

* * *

**Viridian III - Stardate 48650.1**

* * *

James T. Kirk was dying. He knew it. He had cheated death for 78 years thanks to the Nexus, but this really wasn't a bad way to go. Saving lives. It was what he did. He made a difference. When he saw the face of his counterpart, Jean-Luc Picard, he had to ask him if they did.

"Did we do it? Did we… make a difference?"

Picard slightly nodded. "Oh, yes. We made a difference. Thank you."

"Least I could do… for the Captain of the _Enterprise_." That name, that title, had finally passed from one generation to the next. "It was … fun … Oh, my."

Kirk paused as his life faded away. He expected oblivion. "No, my friend, the journey has just begun."

Kirk's eyes widened as he felt himself standing on the rocks, before spinning to face the speaker, adopting a common judo stance as he did in life so many times. The person was a man wearing a simple white shirt under a brown robe and equally brown pants and boots. He removed the hood, revealing a bearded face with long brown hair. "Who are you?" he asked.

The man chuckled. "Simply a guide, James Kirk. but if you want to know my name, I am Qui-gon Jinn. In life, I was much like you: a peacekeeper, and a warrior when I needed to be."

Kirk lowered his hands, relaxing before turning his attention to Picard, who was moving debris to get at his body. For a burial, no doubt. Kirk smiled. It was a nice thought. "So, why are you here?"

"To take you on the journey. The mysteries of the universe await us all."

Kirk considered it. He was dead. He had all the time in the world and there were things no human would see for a long time awaiting. "Alright, Mr. Jinn. I'll go with you."

"You may refer to me as Qui-gon, Captain."

Before both men left for the higher plains of existence, Kirk looked at Qui-gon as Picard carried his corpse to the top of the hill, placing the metal Starfleet pin on the otherwise unmarked grave. "Oh, Qui-gon?"

"Yes?"

"Just call me Jim."

* * *

_Space - The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship _Enterprise _as she_ _continues her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, seeking out new life and civilizations - and to boldly go where no one has gone before. _

_These are the tales of how the _Enterprise _embarks upon what may be its most legendary - and most important journey… a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…_

* * *

**2409 AD - USS **_**Enterprise **_**NCC-1701-F**

* * *

_Captain's Log, Stardate 86715.9: The _Enterprise _is in Romulan Republic space, performing a patrol of the area to help the fledgeling power maintain the peace. Ever since the battle at DS9 proved this ship's capabilities, I have been on edge: the 2800 didn't come out of that wormhole just because the Prophets wanted them to. Something is guiding the enemies of the old Federation Alliance. And I don't know what._

* * *

The 1080-meter long _Odyssey_-Class flagship of Starfleet flew through the former Romulan Neutral Zone, a shining beacon of the Federation's ideals. Va'kel Shon sat in the captain's chair, reading through report after report. "So, I can assume the Zone is secure?" he asked his first officer.

"Yes, Captain," replied Commander Samuel Winters. "We can set a course for New Romulus at will."

As the ship made its preparations to head to New Romulus, a much smaller ship flew alongside - a _Sao Paulo_-Class Tactical Escort, named the _Raging Tempest_. It hadn't gotten involved in the 2800 incident, but had helped deal with a Breen invasion into Deferi space.

"Captain Yamato sends his regards, sir. He's heading back to Earth."

"Send the reply-" The ship then shook and rattled. "Report!"

"We just made contact with a subspace fissure! It JUST formed on top of us!"

"Damn it, full impulse; get us away!" The _Enterprise _glowed white for a moment, and for a moment, Shon thought he saw some of his predecessors that had the post of Captain of the Enterprise: Jonathan Archer, Rachel Garrett, and James Tiberius Kirk. "What the-" The Enterprise-F disappeared from normal space, beginning her journey. Into a galaxy far, far away…

* * *

**Deep space**

* * *

Ahsoka Tano was highly depressed. Even after exile from the Jedi Order, barely getting off Coruscant and getting her hands on a small ship before wandering the galaxy. She was happy that Padme was able to give her enough credits to buy a ship - a G9 Rigger Freighter, similar to the _Twilight_ Anakin had owned for a while. Since that ship was destroyed at Mandalore, she had decided to name the ship the same.

'_For the first time, I've got the whole galaxy in front of me…_' Ahsoka thought to herself, '_No Jedi rules or things to slow me down… but now… I don't know where to go._' There _were _a few places she might be able to go - Onderon being one possibility - but she really didn't feel like being a potential burden to the people there due to her Jedi history - especially for Lux.

She also considered returning to Shili - the Togrutan homeworld. But then again, it would be very difficult for Ahsoka to re-integrate herself into Togrutan society after spending nearly _her entire life _in the Jedi Order.

The more she thought about the Jedi, the angrier she got. The order _was _her family - the younglings, Padawans, Knights, Masters, even some of the workers she looked up to. She thought they would always be there to support her, to help her… but the one time she needed them most, the one time she needed them to believe her… they turned their backs on her. Even Plo Koon - the closest person she ever had to a father figure in her youth - didn't support her. Just Anakin… and then they had the gall to try and welcome her back, as if she'd just casually forget that they tossed her to the kath hounds to save their own public image - what little of it they still had left.

She heard a short beeping noise behind her, as she smiled a bit as she saw an astromech droid move up next to her. R7-A7, or Arseven. He was her droid companion who helped her fly her Delta-7B and Eta-2, and somehow the little guy pulled an Artoo as he snuck out of the temple, and stowed away on her ship to stay by her side.

"At least I have you, Arseven…" Ahsoka said, gently patting the Astromech Droid's head, as he whistled in droid speak. "You have any ideas where to go from here?"

Destiny, however, had… other plans for Ahsoka as a CIS ship dropped out of hyperspace - a single _Munificent-_class Star Frigate.

"Oh, that's just great," Ahsoka muttered, as Arseven chirped out paniced. "Okay, calm down, we're not a Republic registered ship - we should be fine… hopefully…"

"_Unidentified Freighter, this is the confederate warship_ Continuation of Commerce. _Please identify yourself_."

'_Oh, boy._' Ahsoka thought, as she quickly thought up a cover story - if she used her real name, they'd be on her in seconds. "Uh, this is the freighter _Twilight_, out of… Naboo. Just on a routine flight, _Continuation of Commerce_: running standard medical supplies to Tatooine from Alderaan."

"Twilight, _dock with our vessel and prepare to be boarded._" The Captain said, "_We will have to… confirm your status and your cargo to ensure you have no… smuggled Republic goods, of course._" Ahsoka however could already feel through the force that that was a _bad _idea - she didn't have the supplies to convince them that her claim was genuine… and she didn't like the tone of voice the commander was using.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to say no." She said before she spun the ship around, gunning the engines as hard as she could to get away from the frigate.

"R7, plot a course into hyperspace!" She barked, as the astromech beeped out a query in his 'native' language. "Anywhere but here!"

The _Twilight II_ stopped dead, however, before it could go anywhere. "Tractor beam. Ok, as much as I don't want to…" She opened a general frequency. "This is the freighter _Twilight_ to any ship in range: I am being illegally seized by a Separatist ship! I need help!" Ahsoka suddenly felt calm. She should've been panicking like no tomorrow, but the Force was making her calm, as though there was nothing to worry about. From a certain point of view, there wasn't.

* * *

**64,000 kilometers away**

* * *

The _Odyssey-_class Starship USS _Enterprise-F _zapped into existence as the vessel drifted for a few seconds, before its inertial dampeners kicked in as the vessel came to a halt. Shon grunted a bit as the bridge shook. "Report!" he shouted.

"We're suffering a major computer failure: we're working off the secondary cores at the moment, Captain." Kirayoshi reported, "I'll get a crew on restoring power in a moment!"

Shon placed his face in both hands. This hadn't happened in 122 years, since Scotty screwed over the _Excelsior_ just as it was going after the _Enterprise_. The incident with the nanites on the _Enterprise-D_ in 2366 didn't count: that was Crusher's screw up.

"Captain, we have navigation online," Jirelle said. "I'll try and plot our position."

"Thank you," Shon said, before he looked at their resident science officer. "Tem, have any idea what just happened?"

The Bajoran sighed as she looked through the records. "Unfortunately, yes," she said. "It happened to Ambassador Worf when he was coming back from a bat'leth tournament. He kept jumping from universe to universe until everything got worse."

"Define worse."

"_Enterprises_ from multiple universes began showing up in the same sector." Tem said, "There were thousands of them."

Shon was tempted to laugh. THAT would've been a nightmare for anyone. "PLEASE tell me that's not going to happen here." He asked.

"No, sir. We'll be fine," Tem said. "The rift appears to be sealed, but we can open it using our warp drive."

Shon sighed, at least they were not caught in the same situation as _Voyager _where they had almost no way returning home. "Do we have our position yet?"

"Yes, sir," Jirelle said. "We're in the Beta Quadrant, Sector Z-2."

Shon winced. That was the location of Romulus and Remus back in their universe. "Well, any sign of Romulan or Reman ships?" Shon asked.

"No, sir, but-" Jirelle began, but Tem cut her off.

"Captain, we're picking up a distress call from a ship, approximately 65000 kilometers from our position," she said. "It's audio only."

"On speakers," Shon said.

"_This is the freighter _Twilight _to any ship in range: I am being illegally seized by a Separatist ship! I need help!_" came the female voice over the comm.

Shon sighed "Lay in a course." He said.

"Sir?"

"Starfleet protocol, Commander: we rescue people in distress." Shon retorted.

"The Prime Directive, Captain." Sameul warned.

"It only applies to non-warp capable races." Shon said, "We're in deep space - I think its safe to say they have Warp. Take us in, Lieutenant."

"Aye, sir. A brief warp jump will get us there in less a second."

"Engage!"

* * *

Ahsoka's unnatural calm was beginning to scare herself. An oxymoron, yes, but it was true. WHY was she so calm? She was in a tractor beam! Even Arseven was beginning to panic at how calm Ahsoka was being.

Of course suddenly, at that very moment a _VERY _big ship just appeared out of nowhere with a large saucer section, and two large engines near the back. "_This is Captain Va'kel Shon, of the Federation Starship USS _Enterprise." A male voice spoke over the comm. "_We are responding to your distress signal - attention unidentified starship, cease your attack _now _or you will be fired upon._"

"_This is the Confederate frigate _Continuation of Commerce _to the… USS _Enterprise_. You are interfering in a legal boarding action, and you have no jurisdiction here._"

"_From the look of things, you're attacking an unarmed transport that wouldn't be able to smuggle in flowers!_" Ahsoka took a stab to her would-be smuggler's pride, (as did many smugglers across the galaxy, including a certain Corellian) but as she wasn't planning on smuggling any time soon, she let it slide.

"_It is not as though you can stop us._" The separatist Captain snarked, "_Your cruise liner wouldn't be able to stop a fighter, let alone us._"

"…_Cruise liner?_" A voice on the comm said, sounding _very _insulted.

'_Uh-oh, someone made a mistake._'

"_The _Enterprise _is not a cruise liner._" Shon growled, "_Transport _Twilight_, prepare to land. Please shut down your engines and extend landing gear._"

Ahsoka blinked, if she was going to land, why would she shut her engines off? But she felt through the force, and felt that she should do that. "Alright…" she said, as she did as instructed as he _Twilight's _engines shut off, before her landing gear extended.

The ship seemed to be enveloped in light, and she saw a stream of matter before she and her ship reappeared in a hangar bay, guided gently down by a tractor beam, which shut down as soon as the gear was bearing the load.

"What just happened?"

* * *

"What's our friend saying?"

"Screaming obscenities and wondering just how we did that."

Shon chuckled. "Get us out of here, maximum-" He began to say before the _Enterprise _shook for a second as several red bolts impacted the forward shields.

"They're firing on us!" Kyona shouted. "Shields holding at 98%!"

"Return fire, try to make them break off." Shon said.

The _Enterprise _fired a single Phaser at the _Continuation of Commerce,_ as the beam impacted against the shields of the enemy vessel for a few seconds, before the shields faltered and the Phaser easily sliced through the right 'wing' of the Star Frigate.

"Enemy vessel has taken damage. No loss of life."

"That's good."

"There are a large number of artificial lifeforms onboard the cruiser, Captain," Kyona said, "They're returning fire."

The Enterprise rocked again as dozens of bolts made contact with the shields. "Shields at 91%." The Caitian said, "Captain, their shields are rather… strange. They seem to have two generators, one for projectiles and one for energy weapons, and not enough power to engage both."

"Meaning?"

"A low-power phaser strike will keep their energy shield up while a photon torpedo can knock out their main cannon array."

Shon nodded. "Make it so," he said. "Should keep them busy for a while."

The _Enterprise_ fired again, a lower power setting beam impacting the shield before a photon torpedo launched from the starboard-side launcher, hitting the main cannon array in the forward section. The torpedo's yield was on the lower end of the scale, but the explosion was no less mighty as the force equal to the Tsar Bomba was unleashed on the hull of the frigate, destroying the weapons emplacements and causing secondary explosions. "Heavy damage to her forward hull. She's breaking off."

"Good," Shon said. "Please have our guest escorted from her ship to the bridge: I'd like to talk to her."

* * *

**Meanwhile - With Ahsoka**

* * *

Ahsoka and Arseven somewhat nervously followed the 'Starfleet' security officer through the interior of the ship. Needless to say, Ahsoka could already tell this ship was _not _from known space. The technology, the structural framing, everything just screamed 'alien' and she had yet to meet an alien race which had successfully created a form of teleporter which could teleport _entire starships!_

The security officer guided her into a lift, and after the doors closed, the lift began moving upwards. The being seemed to be human, although a human with purely black irises. Ahsoka KNEW she should have been annoyed, but the ship, the people… it seemed right to be here.

The doors opened, revealing the large command center. "Captain, the Continuation of Commerce is sending out a general call over subspace." One of the humanoids in the room said. "I think they're calling for assistance."

"Here's hoping they know better then to tangle with an Odyssey-Class starship." Said the man in the chair (who had blue skin and antenae on his head) turned the chair slightly, then stood up to greet her. "You must be our guest." He said, "I'm Captain Shon. Welcome to the _Enterprise_."

"Thank you… for your help Captain." Ahsoka said, "I'm Ahsoka Tano - " She had to bite her lip a bit to avoid saying 'from the Jedi Order'. She couldn't say _that _anymore.

Shon noticed the cutoff, but politely did not comment. "Starfleet regulations say we help those in need," he said. "And personally, I don't like bullies."

"Sir, subspace distortion detected," Tem said. "I'm not sure, but I think it's a form of transwarp conduit!"

"Yellow alert! Prepare for anything, people!" Ahsoka's eyes turned to the screen, and she saw the forms of another pair of _Munificent-_class frigates and a _Providence_-class destroyer drop out of hyperspace.

"_This is the Confederate warship_ Pride of Neimoidia _to the vessel identified as the USS Enterprise: you have committed an act of war against the CIS by interfering in a legal boarding and inspection, as well as firing upon the _Continuation of Commerce. _Heave to and prepare to be boarded._"

Shon sighed. "Tactical analysis?" He asked.

"Same type of shields as the _Continuation of Commerce_, and the larger ship has superior firepower." Tem reported, "But the cannons are only as powerful as late 23rd century disruptors: our shields will hold for some time before they fall."

"But they have more weapons emplacements, meaning they probably match an _Ambassador_-Class in combat," Shon said, before glancing at Ahsoka. "Miss Tano, any recommendations on your part?"

"If you took out their engines, we could get out of here before any more CIS ships show up," Ahsoka suggested. "Or you could target their bridges near the front ot the ships - knock out their Command &amp; Control and Navigation. It's what I've done before in the past."

Shon shook his head. "I'm not going to end lives unnecessarily," he said. "Lock phasers onto their weapons emplacements, and arm photon torpedoes: target their shield generators. If they can't protect themselves, they'll be forced to retreat."

"Weapons armed, torpedoes locked."

"Fire!" a pair of beams hit the two frigates before a red orb of light launched from the _Enterprise_, homing in on the shield generators. The explosion caused by the torpedo hit right above their shield generator, knocking out their protective cover. "Small craft launching from both ships. They appear to be fighters of some kind. Unmanned."

"Vulture Droids…" Ahsoka muttered. "Believe me, they can be pretty nasty… most of the CIS military is like that though - almost entirely made up of Droids."

Shon facepalmed for reasons Ahsoka did not understand. "Fire phasers." He said. "Try to disable the fighters."

"Why bother?" Ahsoka asked. "They're just droids - they aren't like Arseven."

"Life is life, organic or not," Shon said. "My orders stand." The _Enterprise_ shuddered under the weight of fire being leveled against her from the capital ships before another torpedo impacted the second frigate, knocking it out of the fight.

"Sir, picking up more subspace distortions: more ships coming in!" Samuel reported.

"On screen!" The angle changed, and three ships dropped out of hyperspace. These were far more friendly: a single _Venator_-Class Star Destroyer and a pair of _Acclamator_-Class assault ships.

"Friends of yours?" Shon asked Ahsoka, who sighed.

"A few days ago, I'd say yes," she said. "But they won't shoot at you if that's what you're wondering. The Republic isn't interested in starting _another _war along with the Clone Wars."

"I can live with that."

"_Attention Separatist ships: this is Admiral Tarkin of the Republic star destroyer_ Corusca_. clear this area immediately or you will be fired on._" Ahsoka scowled at hearing Tarkin's voice. The Jedi Order throwing her to the hounds? She could forgive that: they had no idea what was going on. But Tarkin? He was actively trying to get her killed. "_You will pay for this,_ Enterprise! _This, I swear!_" The three ships joined the _Continuation of Commerce_, jumping into hyperspace to escape.

"Hail the _Corusca_: let's see if their in more of a talkative mood." Shon said.

"Hailing frequency open." Samuel said.

"This is Captain Shon of the USS _Enterprise,_ from the United Federation of Planets." The Captain said, "Thank you for your assistance, _Corsca._"

"Enterprise, _this is Admiral Tarkin._" The voice of the GAR Admiral said. "_You are quite welcome. I must say, I have never seen a luxury liner outfit with such defensive and offensive systems. Where are you from?_"

Shon's brow twitched. "This is NOT a luxury liner, Admiral," he said. "It is an exploration starship, and one that can defend itself."

"_Ah, I see,_" Tarkin said. "_I have never heard of this… United Federation of Planets… I must make the assumption that you must be from the unknown regions?_"

Shon shook his head, even though Tarkin couldn't see him. "We're not from anywhere you know of, Admiral. This might sound a little insane, but… we're from an alternate universe. And we have proof of our claims."

"_Then I will have to come on board your ship to see this… evidence. I assume you have a hangar bay?_"

"We'll move into position so you can land. Enterprise out."

"If your going to meet with Tarkin, don't expect me to join you," Ahsoka said, crossing her arms. "It's a mistake to even _let _that bastard onboard your ship."

"I don't know your history with Admiral Tarkin, but we're more than capable of making sure he doesn't do anything rash." He said, "Tem, make sure you have a clear scan of his shuttle: any explosives, heavy weapons or things like that will not get onto this ship. Beam them back to his cruiser."

"Aye, sir."

"Sam, please escort our guest to deck 9 and have a room set up for her. We'll give your ship a once-over to make sure she can fly, then we'll send you on your way. Unless you have any objections-"

"No. That's fine." Ahsoka said, "You're being awfully generous, though."

"Starfleet prides itself on helping those in need whenever they can, Miss Tano."

"Thank you, Captain…" Ahsoka said nodding, as Sam walked up next to her. "May the force be with you."

* * *

_**Theta**_**-Class shuttle en route to USS Enterprise**

* * *

Tarkin had to admit, the Enterprise was a shapely ship. Awe-inspiring, you might say. But it was poorly designed: against the full might of an _Imperator_-Class star destroyer, it would crumple like paper. "Shuttle Gamma to Enterprise: request permission to land." The pilot said.

"_Shuttle Gamma, this is _Enterprise: _clearance granted._"

"We are to treat this as a first contact scenario, gentlemen." Tarkin said too the small team of Clone Guards he brought with him. None heavily armed, but armed enough for self-defense. "Do not draw your weapons unless they act first - we may have a potential ally if this all works out for us."

The wings folded up and the landing gear extended as the ship landed between a bank of smaller shuttles and an G9 Rigger freighter. "They said they weren't from around here: that ship says otherwise." One of the Clone Troopers said.

"Its entirely possible they only recently picked the freighter up before meeting us." Another Clone said.

The landing hatch opened, allowing the Admiral and his guards to leave the craft, where they met up with a pair of officers on the deck wearing similar uniforms, but they were of different species: one was felinoid, the other was seemingly human. "Admiral Tarkin, I presume?" THe Felinoid asked, "Lieutenant Kyone, Welcome on board the _Enterprise_."

"A pleasure," Tarkin said. "I find myself wondering… where did you-"

"Pick up the freighter?" Kyone asked, "We rescued it from one of the CIS ships when we arrived. Her captain is currently in guest quarters while Lieutenant O'brien gives the ship a check-up."

"Ah," Tarkin said nodding, solving at least one mystery. "Well, I suppose we wouldn't want to keep your Captain waiting, I presume? We shall follow your lead."

The two led the Admiral and his guards out of the shuttlebay, leading them into a lift. "Main bridge." The lift began moving upwards and to the side.

"Very impressive vessel," Tarkin observed. "It certainly is no Cruise Liner… yet it's not exactly an exploration vessel by the way you've built the interior.."

"We can grant you access to our database." Kyone said, "Limited, due to Starfleet protocol." The lift stopped, and the group stepped out. "Admiral Tarkin, Captain." A blue-skinned man with antennae stood up and approached him. "Admiral, I'm Captain Shon. Welcome to the _Enterprise_."

"A pleasure to meet you, Captain." Tarkin said nodding. "You have a very fine starship, Captain… and you have many species onboard that I most certainly am not familiar with… I believe its safe to say there is some… credibility to you claim now."

"We can give you limited access to our database," Shon said. "Information anyone from my side would know will be accessible. Try not to access anything beyond that."

"Why not?"

"Because of the Prime Directive," he said. "We will not interfere in the development of any society, be it sociologically, culturally, or technologically."

Tarkin nodded at that - though he was hoping to gain some of their technology, it was understandable that a civilization with such advanced technology would go to any length to ensure it does not fall into the hands of those who may abuse it. The Republic and CIS would likely commit to similar directives if their situations were reversed. "Understandable," he said. "Though I do hope one day the Galactic Republic and your… United Federation of Planets may be more open towards technological and cultural exchanges… if what you say is true, there is much we could learn from one another."

Shon nodded. "We'll need a galactic map," he said. "I would like to speak with the heads of your government: first contact procedures-"

"Captain?"

"Yes?"

"I'm picking up a subspace transmission on a Starfleet frequency."

Another voice sounded over the PA. "Enterprise_, this is Captain Ronald Pinkerton of the _Ra-Cailum_: we've reopened the rift and sent through a probe to contact you. Please respond._"

"Excuse me, Admiral." Shon said as he moved too the communication station. "This is Captain Shon, USS _Enterprise _to _Ra-Cailum_: Good to hear from you, Captain Pinkerton."

"_We've stabilized the rift, Captain: you're free and clear to return home._"

"Negative, _Ra-Cailum_. We're in the middle of a first contact over here."

"_Goddamn it. We've got a trio of Klingon ships inbound to our position, as well as a Romulan warbird. We can't tell if its' Republic or Tal shiar. _Enterprise_, we need you back here._"

Shon shook his head. "Captain, inform the Klingons that if they open fire, they're risking bringing ANOTHER power into our pity little war."

"_I'll inform them, but no promises. _Ra-Cailum _out._"

* * *

**On the other side**

* * *

On the side of the rift the _Enterprise_ came from, a small fleet of ships stood watch over the rift.

Among them was the same ship that had been alongside the _Enterprise_ earlier - the USS _Raging Tempest_ NCC-108597.

On its Bridge, Captain Takeshi Yamato sat at his normal spot - the Helm Console - looking at the viewscreen. "Kim, ETA on the incoming ships?" he asked his Sensor Operator.

"Two minutes for the Klingons, four for the Romulan warbird. The _Ra-Cailum_ is holding position 500 kilometers from the rift." The _Ra-Cailum_ had been sent to relieve the _Enterprise_ of its' patrol, but now her crew would be getting involved in another pointless battle. "I have a clear ID on the Klingons: two _Ning'tao_-Class birds of prey and a D7X-Class battlecruiser."

Takeshi frowned. The _Ning'tao_ was a remade variant of the old _Norgh_-Class of Bird of Prey - and had a vastly different design from their predecessor, though parts could be swapped between them. While the _Norgh_ was being phased out, the _Ning'tao_ was the KDF's current production light raiding craft.

It still wouldn't be too hard to deal with - as opposed to the D7X, the latest variant of the Klingons' famed D7 Battlecruiser - it was even newer than the D7Q _Koro't'inga_-Class. "Here's hoping we can avoid a fight," he remarked. "As much of an Adrenaline Junkie as I am, this might be nasty if it gets to a fight."

"We do have a slight advantage," Kim remarked. "The _Ra-Cailum_ is a _Sovereign_-Class starship, and no matter how much you advance a D7, it will never be a match for a Sovereign."

The _Ra-Cailum_ was also manned by the _Enterprise_'s rejects: possibly the most skilled people in the fleet, but with issues that kept them from the grand NCC-1701-F posting everyone dreamed of.

"Right," Takeshi replied, before he turned to his XO - a Klingon who had left Klingon space to join the Federation, and later Starfleet. "Brok'tan, what's your opinion on the situation?"

"The Klingons are tired of this stalemate," Brok'tan replied in his typical bass rumble. "And even more of us. They want one of two things: an end to this war through the destruction of the Federation or a foe so great it would make J'mpok forget his animosity toward the Federation."

Takeshi groaned. "So we likely can't avoid a fight unless something utterly nasty rears its ugly head?" he asked.

"I pray it does not come to that," Brok'tan said.

The Klingons dropped out of warp, weapons armed and shields up. "_This is the IKS _Jachjeh _to the Federation warship _Raging Tempest_: surrender, and we will grant you a swift and honorable death._"

Takeshi groaned. "Of course, they're no longer even _pretending_ to take prisoners," he muttered. "IKS _Jachjeh_, I'm afraid surrender isn't really an option for us."

The _Ning'taos_ began opening fire, targeting the _Raging Tempest_ before the D7 moved in, firing at the _Sao Paulo_.

Takeshi ducked and weaved his ship through the fire, lining up on one of the _Ning'taos_, before opening up with his Pulse Cannons, blowing the Bird of Prey up with a few precision blasts before flying through the resultant explosion, then beginning to line up on the second _Ning'tao_.

The D7 opened fire on the _Raging Tempest_, several disruptor bolts impacting the shields before they received help in the form of four photon torpedoes slamming into the D7. "Ra-Cailum _to _Tempest_: we'll keep the D7 off your ass._"

"Thanks for the help, _Ra-Cailum_," Takeshi replied. "We'll finish off this last _Ning'tao_, then help you finish that D7."

The BoP began to break apart under pulse cannon fire, before the D7 focused on the Ra-Cailum, but a photon torpedo managed to hit the warp nacelle, and the ship began to drift. Toward the rift.

"Oh great," Takeshi groaned, as he finished off the BoP. "We need to take that thing out, before-"

The ship entered the rift just as a photon torpedo from the Ra-Cailum detonated inside the rift. The energy it generated did two things. One, it damaged the D7. Two, it made the rift impossible to close by normal means.

Takeshi winced. "That's not good," he said. "Analysis, Kim?"

"It's on the other side. And the Romulan ship is here: it's the R.R.W. _Lliset_. And I'm picking up a new contact: Klingon _Vor'cha_-class. They're hailing."

"Well, let's see what happens now," Takeshi said. "Onscreen."

The image of a klingon man and a romulan woman appeared on the screen. The Romulan was easy to ID: Commander Jarok. The Klingon, not so much. "_Captain, I am H'jach of the IKS_ Spearpoint. _My apologies for this unwarranted assault on your ship: we have far too many glory seekers in the KDF nowadays._"

Takeshi blinked. This was new. "Umm… apology accepted…" he said, an easily identifiable note of confusion in his voice.

"_Don't be confused, Captain: most of this ridiculous war was caused by glory-seeking fools. They have forgotten the other two parts of the Klingon way: duty and honor. There is no honor in forgetting your duty, and when your duty is to defend the Empire, not make things worse, you dishonor yourself and the Klingon people. Now, I must ask… what happened here?_"

Takeshi then proceeded to explain the situation as best as he knew it.

"_So the _Enterprise _is on the other side. Captain, you have just given us the best excuse to end this pointless conflict once and for all._"

Even Jarok was confused. "_Captain?_"

"_There is no reason to fight the Federation when there is a greater glory on the other side. Captain, I request to join you in going through the rift._"

"_The _Ra-Cailum'_s going through,_" Ron informed, entering the conversation. "_The _Raging Tempest _is staying._"

Takeshi nodded. "Captain Pinkerton's correct," he said. "Until we can get some sort of permanent installation here, we need someone to guard the rift from Tal Shiar, True Way, Borg, Undine, or anyone else who might try using it for their own ends."

Another beep was heard. "Another ship is decloaking," Kim informed. "_D'Deridex_-Class, Block 2 Romulan Republic, IDed as RRW _Khepesh_."

"_The _Khepesh _will stay here. The _Lliset _will follow the _Ra-Cailum _through with the _Spearpoint."

Takeshi nodded. "Good to hear, _Khepesh_," he said. "The more firepower we have protecting the rift, the better."

"_Then we must prevent that fool from making a mistake! Q'apla!_" The channel closed before the improptu fleet entered formation, heading for the rift.

* * *

**On the other side…**

* * *

Elsewhere in the galaxy, a single yet highly modified _Dreadnought-_class Heavy Cruiser prowled through the darkness of space, moving away from the planet Onderon, and its moon Duxn. On the bridge of the Dreadnought, men and women were wearing numerous variants of Mandalorian armor, from Neo-Crusader armor to Shock Trooper armor and anything inbetween, manning their stations and controlling the ship.

Sitting in the command chair of the vessel, a man who looked to be in his forties or fifties sat, as he looked at the mask currently held in his hand. The man had short black hair, and bright red eyes, wearing black and grey Shock Trooper armor. His eyes were fixed on the mask he possessed - which looked rather old, but mandalorian markings were engraved all over it.

"I still can't believe we found it…" A voice to his side said, as the man glanced to the side where a young man walked up to him. It was easy to tell they were related, both having the almost exact same hair and eye color. "It was right under their noses all along…"

"Yes…" the man said, looking at the mask once more. "Mandalore's Mask… it hasn't been worn since the time of Mandalore the Preserver…"

"If Cassus Fett didn't come crawling out of the woodwork, maybe Canderous wouldn't have had to hide it…" The younger man growled out, before he smiled a bit. "But… its not every day you can say your father is Mandalore."

Aren Takeo chuckled, as he put the mask on his face, attaching it to his now modified Mandalorian Shock-Trooper armor designed to accommodate for the mask now. "Indeed… with this, we can oust Maul and Almec from power… no Mandalorian would turn away when the Mask has been found, and when Mandalore calls… once we prove its genuine, the Mandalorian People can be united once more at long last."

"It's been a long time coming, dad," Jaden said. "Or should that be 'Mandalore the Redeemer' now?"

"Mandalore, I think you should take a look at this." One of the sensor operators said.

Aren stood up from his seat. "What is it?" he asked, as the sensors officer pointed at something on the screen. It was smaller than they were, shaped almost like a bird, but with a long neck and a bulbous 'head' and two obvious cannons on the wingtips.

"It's a ship of some kind." The Officer said, "I'm seeing meteor impact marks, but… no damage besides a hull breach on the neck section, and they could have only been caused by weapons fire."

Aren's eyes narrowed behind his mask. It almost looked like one of the infamous Hapan _Nova-_class Battle Cruisers, sharing a very similar design. However Aren had seen a _Nova _in action before, this was not the same ship. The wings and bridge area was different, plus it lacked hangar bays for their Miy'til Starfighters, and was only 1/4th the size - being 109 meters from beak to tail, while a _Nova _was about 400 meters.

"Prepare a boarding party," Aren ordered. "The vessel is derelict… but keep weapons online and shields up - this could very easily be a trap… Force knows there are plenty of pirates in this area of space."

"I'll lead a party over there," Jaden said, nodding. "It almost looks Hapan… but I don't think it is."

"My thoughts exactly," Aren said, nodding. "Tread carefully, ad'ika."

"Don't I always, buir?" Jaden said with a smirk before he left the bridge, leaving a chuckling Aren as he sat back down.

* * *

Boarding the ship was simple. There was a hole in the side, after all.

"No atmosphere. Not even ray shields to keep the air in." One of the fellow boarding party members said as their _Kom'rk-_class Fighter/Transport possitioned itself next to the hull breach. "How did they fly through space, clearly fighting, if they didn't have basic safety features?"

Jaden stepped into the wreck, finding himself face to face with a dead body. It was near-human, if not for the ridges on his forehead and the body armor. "What the hell is this thing?" Jaden muttered, as he inspected the corpse.

"It's not a species from the Republic, I know that much," one of the other Mandalorians said. "Never seen that type of armor, either… "

Jaden saw what looked like a weapon strapped to the corpse's side - a pistol-like weapon, and a knife as well. He picked up the knife, inspecting it. It appeared to have a long single blade, joined by two additional blades on either side in a V format. "Nasty-looking knife though…" He muttered as he returned the weapon to its holster, which he proceeded to strap onto his own belt. "Come on, we need to get deeper into this ship - bridge must be up to the front. Beviin - you take Ka'ra and Runi to the rear, their engineering should be that way. See if you can find out how this things engines work, maybe get it to working order."

"Elek Alore," Beviin said nodding, as he and two other Mandalorians went down one passage, while Jaden lead the other two down the second passage.

They made their way to the 'head' section, finding the crew dead at their posts, with only one console still active. Jaden pressed a few keys, then was surprised to hear a buzz from the aft hatch. "The hell was that?" One of the Mandalorians shoted.

"Ray shield, maybe?" Jaden suggested, before they began hearing words over their radios. The language was guttural, but after a minute, shifted into Basic. "_-power failed two days ago, but we have activated the emergency cell to keep the forcefield active._" A male voice said, "_I have elected to deactivate the force field, to spare us from dishonorably starving to death. These are the final worlds of To'var, son of Ga'lag, commander of the Imperial Klingon vessel _B'mak." The sound of air rushing out was heard, then… silence.

"They killed themselves… they must've been a long way from home," Jaden said, looking at the dead corpse of the Captain. Judging from what they have thus far observed, it seemed whoever these aliens, these… Klingons, they were a warrior people… maybe not too different from Mandalorians. And each and every one of them died at their posts, something Jaden - and his Father - could respect.

"Rest easy, To'var, son of Ga'lag," Jaden said to the corpse. "Your story won't be forgotten…" he turned to one of the Mandalorians. "Try to start translating the language here, its' obvious they have a translator device, we may be able to use the translator on the _Prudii Tracyn_ to figure out what half of these symbols mean, and maybe get this ship working. And see if you can get a galaxy map from the ship's memory - find out where these guys were from. At the very least, we should give the bodies of the crew back to their people for proper burial."

"I'll try to get that powercell working on the computer," the engineer of the team said. "If this thing has a working universal translator, all we have to do is tell it our language and it'll do the work for us. We might be able to repair this thing and get it to fly."

"Do it," Jaden said nodding, as he pressed his helmet's comm. "Jaden to _Prudii Tracyn,_ we've found the bridge. We may be able to get this ship back in working order. Crew is long dead though."

"_Understood,_" Aren said. "_Any hints to their origins?_"

"Whoever these guys are, they aren't from the known galaxy," Jaden said. "We managed to access a piece of the logs, the vessel is called the _B'mak,_ from the Klingon Empire."

"_Never heard of 'em,_" Aren said. "_But I'm sending over more engineers to help you get her space worthy again… we could always use a new ship, and who knows what kind of technology could be under the hood of that thing._"

"My thoughts exactly," Jaden said, nodding. "We're working on getting our translator software to work with the ships. If it has a universal translator we should be able to actually read some of these consoles here."

"_Well, we should be worried about managing to fly that little bat-falcon,_" Aren said. "_find out everything you can._"

The radio crackled for a second. "_Sir, we've got limited main power restored,_" Beviin said. "_And there's something called a 'transporter' if the translator's working properly._"

Jaden rose an eyebrow before he shrugged. "See what it does." He said.

"_Got it. Hang on._" Jaden assumed this transporter was a cargo loader and that someone was being an idiot. The second he was enveloped in red light and deposited back on the _Prudii Traycyn's_ bridge, that thought vanished.

Jaden blinked, as he looked around, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" He shouted, surprising everyone on the bridge both by his shout and his sudden appearance.

"_Sir? What happened?_" Beviin asked. "_Are you alright?_"

"I'M ON THE _TRAYCYN'S _BRIDGE!" Jaden shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!"

"…_By the mask of Mandalore._" Beviin muttered, "_It's a teleporter system! Now I know why it's called a transporter. Sir, I think I'm locked onto you. I'm activating it again._"

"Don't you dare-" Jaden began to growl before Red light surrounded him again, and he reappeared on board the _B'mak_, this time on some sort of pad in front of the jackass who… beamed him from one ship to the other and back again.

"-do that again!" Jaden finished before he blinked. "GODDAMNIT BEVIIN!" He shouted.

"Sorry sir," Beviin muttered. "But… geez, _teleporting _technology? Who knows what else these guys could have! We may have just stumbled across a technological treasure trove!"

Jaden sighed. "Just make sure what the stuff is _before _you go pressing buttons," he said. "Force knows I don't want to get teleported _inside out._"

Beviin nodded. "I'll read through the manual once it's translated," He said. "What else does this ship have hidden inside her?"

The lights then turned on, and hissing was heard. "Looks like we've got life support back online." Jaden muttered.

"Traycyn _to boarding team: the _B'mak _just vanished! Do you read us?!_" Aren shouted on the comm, before both Mandalorians looked at one another.

"A cloaking device that doesn't jam our communications," Jaden muttered. "Holy-fucking-shit…" he slowly began to grin behind his mask. "I'm beginning to _love _this ship. _B'mak_ to _Traycyn_ \- we're alright… this ship's got a stealth system it seems…all I have to say… is that MandalMotors and MandalHypernautics is going to go _apeshit _over this thing."

Aren let out a sigh over the comms. "_Alright… once you figure out how to use its Hyperdrive or whatever it uses for FTL, we'll have the _Traycyn _and _B'mak _head to Manda'yaim together, but I want your ship to trail back a bit - we still don't know the limits of that technology, I won't risk it in a scenario where it's very possible we'll be going into combat._"

"Understood, Mandalore." Jaden said, "Jaden out." With that Jaden turned off the comm. "Beviin, work with the engineering teams to get this ship working ASAP, I want you to know how this ship works from the cloaking and transporter to the damn refreshers. I want to know its strengths and its limits."

"I can tell you one limit," Beviin said. "It doesn't have a hyperdrive."

"What?" Jaden asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It uses something called a warp drive," Beviin said. "It's slower, but more flexible, tactically. We can use it in battle to escape, even with a grav well generator. And if the translation from this 'English' is close to our language as it seems to be, we can make a hyperdrive in less than ten seconds."

"What?" Jaden asked, "How? It takes days to make a hyperdrive from scratch!"

"Sir, the technology of this thing is _amazing,_" Beviin said, "It has something called Replicators… it can just spawn out and recycle food and parts so long as we specify what it is we need, all we need to do is program it with the specs of one of our Hyperdrives, and it can make one. All we would have to do is install it - which is childs play for any engineer. Granted it seems materials spawned is slightly inferior to the real deal, but it will get us where we need to go, and keep us supplied well into the future."

Jaden's eyes were wide, before he slowly began to smirk behind the helmet once more. This was the technology that the Mandalorian people needed to regain the strength they needed to stand on their own two feet once more, without needing help from the Republic of CIS. To ensure they can defend themselves, and avoid another event like the Mandalorian Excision hundreds of years ago.

"Today… is a good day to be a Mandalorian." Jaden said with a chuckle. "Whoever these Klingons are… if we ever meet them, we need to thank them for this invaluable gift. From what I've heard and seen so far… there may be much we have in common."

* * *

**USS **_**Enterprise**_ **NCC-1701-F**

* * *

"Sir, contact on sensors!" Tem shouted. "Klingon battlecruiser, D7X-Class!"

Shon shook his head. A D7 was no match for the _Enterprise_. "Lock phasers, try to make them break off and stand down." He said.

"Sir, they're targeting one of the Republic frigates." Tem said, "And if the scans are correct, they don't stand a chance."

"What?!" Tarkin shouted, "That ship is tiny compared to one of our _Acclamators_! We'll snap it in half-"

"If you can hit it." Shon said. "Your ships lack maneuverability, which that D7 has in spades."

"They don't need to be maneuverable to hit a target." Tarkin said, as he turned to one of the troopers. "Send a message to the fleet - lock Turbolasers and Ion Cannons and blast that starship into galactic dust!"

The Clone nodded, using his helmet's comm to inform the _Corusca_ to engage. The _Venator _and its _Acclamator_ escorts quickly responded as their Turbolasers and Ion Cannons activated, and opened fire on the D7X, leading their shots ahead of the Klingon vessel in order to hit it in large salvo's of weapons fire.

The D7X was surprisingly maneuverable though, as it did its best to weave through a majority of the shots. But multiple shots did impact against its shields, draining them more and more after each successful shot.

"Klingon vessel's shields are at 87%." Kyona reported, "But they're getting into the frigate's rear arc, and they don't have any weapons in that area." That would be the ship's doom. The Klingon fired a full volley of photon torpedoes and disruptor cannon bolts, the former of which impacted the bridge and engines. The torpedoes did not destroy the ship, but they would be its' death knell.

"The reactor is beginning to go critical," Tem said.

"Beam whoever we can off that ship!" Shon shouted.

"It's too late, sir," The _Acclamator_ exploded, and the D7 turned its' attention on the second frigate.

"Captain, destroy that ship!" Tarkin shouted.

"What are your ships made of, Admiral?!" Shon snapped back. "Can they withstand teratons of explosive force?"

"No-"

"If I destroy that ship, the warp core will cause an explosion that can destroy a large moon! Your ships won't survive!"

Tarkin growled a bit "Order the _Corusca _and the remaining escort to fall back," he told the clone, "If what the Captain says is true, it must be done if we're going to defeat that thing!"

"Sir, another contact on sensors: _Sovereign_-Class!" Kyona reported, "It's the _Ra-Cailum_!" Two phaser beams impacted the D7, forcing the ship to back off. "Ra-Cailum _to_ Enterprise: _we'll take care of your Klingon._" The D7 turned to face the _Ra-Cailum_, but a full volley of quantum torpedoes struck the bridge and engineering sections, and the ship exploded 300,000 kilometers from both Republic ships, before the warp core of the vessel detonated as well, causing a secondary - and even more massive explosion.

Tarkin was actually at a loss for words - what in the hell were they using to power their starships if their power sources could cause such massive explosions?

"We're being hailed by another Klingon ship: _Vor'cha_-Class."

"What? Put them through."

A Klingon appeared on screen. "_Captain Shon, it is an honor._" The Klingon said. "_I apologize for the actions of that fool. This war is producing more glory-seeking fools then we can handle._"

"We understand, Captain." Shon said with a sigh. "Though that fool certainly made a mess over here."

"_I have a debt to repay to you, then, Captain._" H'jach said. "_I assume that you will be speaking with the heads of the people whose ship was destroyed._"

"We were planning on it from the beginning."

"_Then I will join you on that journey,_" The Klingon said. "_Perhaps this will bring an end to this ridiculous war._"

"Let us hope so." Shon said with a sigh, "We will send you the star charts we've gotten from the Republic, we will be heading towards their capital soon."

"Sir, their capital is over 70000 lightyears away. It will take us decades to get there."

Shon chuckled. "Admiral, I hope you don't mind that I… acquire a few things from your ship?"

"Such as?"

"Scans of whatever FTL drive you use."

* * *

Ahsoka laid in her quarters, waiting for Tarkin to get the hell off the ship. The enterprise was a ship literally not of this universe, but it felt like home.

"It was your destiny to be here, young one." A voice said, causing Ahsoka to jump in surprise, as she saw who looked to be a ghostly figure standing before her.

"Wait…" Ahsoka muttered, as she recognized the figure from the Jedi Temple's records. "You're… Qui-gon Jinn, Obi-wan's master?"

"Yes, young Ahsoka." Qui-gon said nodding, "Your destiny was to be taken from the Jedi by actions out of your control. your place is here. And I have someone who can help you understand."

"Who?"

Another spirit appeared, wearing a red uniform… with the delta arrow emblem on a golden badge. "That would be me." The man said, "My name's James Kirk. I was a Starfleet officer in life. In fact, I once commanded the _Enterprise_. You can call me Jim."

Ahsoka blinked. "Okay… Jim," she said. "So… you can explain to me what is going on here?"

"Well, I'm no expert on the Force, but I know it's been trying to get you here for a LONG time," Jim said. "The _Enterprise_ is more than a ship: it has a soul. Every _Enterprise_ is a legend in its' own way, and this one is no exception. And your destiny lays on this ship. And in Starfleet."

"My destiny is… here?" Ahsoka asked with a raised eyebrow. "Jim, I barely know who these people are, heck I barely know who _you _are!"

"Yet you feel like you were meant to be here all your life." Jim said. "You feel more at home here then at the Jedi Temple, don't you?"

Ahsoka was silent for a few moments… now that she thought about it, she did feel a bit more welcomed here, onboard the _Enterprise _than she ever did at the Jedi temple. The people here didn't need to hide their emotions, not bound by a code over thousands of years old, just a set of simple, easy to follow rules - while sometimes strict - were reasonable.

"Maybe…" Ahsoka muttered, "But… would they accept me?"

"Ahsoka, they don't care if you're not human." Jim said with a reassuring smile. "There are hundreds of races in the Federation: no one cares if they're different if their souls are the same. There was a man from a world called Vulcan. His name was Spock. He was my friend, and dare I say the other half of my soul. And the only thing we shared was being citizens of the Federation. We're all equals."

"I know, but…" she said, "They barely know anything about me, let alone this galaxy…" she then sighed "As far as I know, Tarkin could be telling them right now that I'm nothing but trouble…"

Jim shook his incorporeal head. "Starfleet officers have a duty to the truth. Besides, I think that Tarkin will be incapable of doing anything to harm you."

* * *

"Who did you pick up from the transport?" Tarkin asked, as curiosity finally got the better of him.

"A young woman named Ahsoka Tano. Why?"

Tarkin's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of the former Jedi. "Ah… it may be best, Captain, that you send… Miss Tano away as soon as possible."

Shon rose an eyebrow. "And why would I do that?" He asked.

"Ahsoka was only just recently tried for treason and murder in the Republic," Tarkin said. "While she was found not guilty, she resisted arrest, and escaped republic imprisonment. She was also exiled from the Jedi Order - believe me Captain, she is more trouble than she's worth."

Shon did not look amused. "If she was innocent, there is no problem," he said. "Besides, Admiral, I will need to talk to her personally. If she has perfectly good reasons and is telling the truth, I see no problem for her continued presence on the _Enterprise_."

"I am merely warning you Captain." Tarkin said, "That girl is nothing but trouble to those around her."

"Then I will tell you something." Shon said, "For Starfleet, risk is our business."

The door to the bridge opened, and in came a man wearing another Starfleet uniform with the same amount of rank pins as Shon, only he was human. "Captain Shon."

"Ah, Captain Pinkerton," Shon said nodding. "Welcome on board the Enterprise."

Tarkin blinked. "Was there a shuttle from the other starship that docked when I wasn't looking?" He asked.

"I beamed over," Ron said, glancing at the Andorian Captain. "Did you not tell them, Va'kel? I'm shocked."

"I didn't exactly have the time, and they don't seem to have transporters," Shon retorted.

"Excuse me, but I'm feeling rather confused," Tarkin said. "What are-"

Pinkerton paused for a second before reciting something. "Transporters are matter-to-energy transmitters that send an object or person from one place to another," he said.

Tarkin had an incredious look on his face after he said that "You mean to tell me your people have developed teleportation technology?" he asked. "Impossible!"

He tapped his commbadge. "Riz?"

"_Onii-sama?_"

"Can you please beam over to the Enterprise bridge?"

"_On my way._" Seconds later, a column of light signaled the arrival of a woman wearing the same uniform as Ron, with blonde hair tied behind her head. "Admiral, my sister, Lieutenant Commander Riza Pinkerton. Riz, Admiral 'impossible' Tarkin."

Tarkin's eyes were wide looking at Riza - as she had successfully _teleported _from one ship to another, a technology many believed to be utterly impossible. "What… the… fuck… " the Admiral muttered under his breath.

"We've had this for over 250 years," Ron said shrugging. "It's a fact of life, just like enhanced matter/antimatter reactors, replicators and such."

'_Just who ARE these people?!_' Tarkin thought, as he began thinking he was going to lose it.

And to make matters worse, the turbolift doors opened, and out stepped Ahsoka Tano herself. "Captain Shon?" she asked, before her eyes fell on Tarkin, as they quickly narrowed. "Tarkin."

"Miss Tano…" Tarkin growled out.

"Wow, you two REALLY hate one another." Ron said, glancing inbetween them. "Maybe I can set up an Ushaan for you: let you duke it out?"

"Don't know what that is, but no thanks," Ahsoka said, still glaring at Tarkin "And I'm not here for you Tarkin." She finally broke the staring match she was having with him before turning to Captain Shon. "Captain Shon… I would like to ask you for a favor."

"What is it, Miss Tano?" Shon asked.

Ahsoka let out a short sigh before she spoke. "I… I know this is hard for you to understand, but the will of the Force led me to this place," she said. "I feel as though my destiny lays here, on the _Enterprise_. I'd like permission to stay on board."

Tarkin would have had steam coming out of his ears had it been possible. "Captain, I must protest-" he began to say, before Ron cut him off.

"Starfleet ship, Admiral," he said. "It's not up to you if she stays." Ron turned to Shon. "Well, Va'kel? What's your thought on it?"

The Andorian shook his head. "If she wants to stay, she'll need to know how things work on a Federation starship," he said. "If you're willing, you're welcome to stay on the _Enterprise_."

Ahsoka smiled, nodding. "Thank you, Captain," she said. "You have no idea how much this means to me, you won't regret this. "

"Captain, she will bring nothing but ruin to you and your ship!"

"You don't like her, Tarky boy, that's fine," Ron said. "You're an officer of your military, not a political official: you don't have the clout to demand her arrest. If your nation wants to protest, they can send a government official to do it."

Tarkin growled before resigning himself to it. "She's your problem now," he conceded. "I assume that your engineers can build the hyperdrives using our blueprints?"

"We can one-up that and make them in seconds."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

**Coruscant**

* * *

Yoda, grand master of the Jedi Order, opened his eyes. The Force was telling him that a friend would be coming to Coruscant. "Master Yoda?" He glanced at Obi-wan Kenobi, who, for once, was not on the front lines of this war. "Coming, something is. Will change our destinies, it will."

"I fail to understand how, Master."

"See in time, you will."

* * *

The _Victory I_-Class star destroyer _Renown_ was one of the few ships guarding Coruscant, seeing as the war was light years away. They did not expect the arrival of a fleet of ships escorted by the _Corusca_ and the _Hoth_.

Before however the Captain could begin scrambling out orders, a voice spoke on the open comm. "_This is Admiral Tarkin, onboard the Republic Starship _Corusca _to the Core defense fleet._" Tarkin said, "_There is no need to panic - my… guests are not hostile. Inform the chancellor that we are in the middle of a first contact scenario._"

"_Renown_ confirms, Admiral. We'll… inform the Chancellor."

* * *

As soon as the word was sent, Chancellor Palpatine sent Obi-wan and Anakin Skywalker, as well as a squad of clones and Senator Padme Amidala to meet with these… Federation personnel. "What do we know about these ships, General?" Captain Rex asked.

"Only that they're highly advanced and not to be trifled with," Obi-wan said. "We're going to be landing on the largest ship, the _Enterprise_."

"That one that looks like a massive bird seems to be bigger," Commander Cody mused.

"That one's the RRW _Lleiset_, not the _Enterprise_," Obi-wan said. The short range shuttle headed directly for the elegant looking _Enterprise_, flanked by a smaller ship of similar design.

"They look almost Nubian in design," Padme muttered.

"From Tarkin's report, they have more than enough firepower to sink an _Acclamator,_ or CIS Dreadnoughts," Anakin said, nodding. "We really could use their help against the Seps."

"_This is the _Enterprise _to Republic shuttle. You are cleared to land in the main shuttlebay._"

"This is Anakin Skywalker to the _Enterprise_: confirmed." Anakin said. "We are on approach."

"Just don't crash this time." Padme commented, causing Anakin to roll his eyes.

The shuttle flew toward the bay doors, which were open. Anakin blinked at seeing another Rigger freighter in the shuttlebay, then glared at Obi-Wan.

"What?"

"You brought the _Twilight_ to Mandalore, and Maul got it destroyed." He said, "I'm still not too happy about that."

"Oh, and what was _I _supposed to do? Let myself get captured?!" Obi-wan retorted. "Blame Maul for shooting it down, not me!"

"I know that. Still not happy," Anakin shot back.

"Master Jedi, should we focus on meeting with our new friends?" Padme asked.

Obi-wan was grateful for that, at least. "Thank you, Senator." He said, "You're quite right. Let's go meet the captain."

* * *

Shon wore his dress uniform, and was standing beside Ahsoka, who wore a cleaned copy of her usual attire. "Nervous?" he asked.

"The last time I was on Coruscant, Captain, everyone and thing was trying to kill me," Ahsoka said.

Shon chuckled. "That's a story you're going to need to tell me."

The doors to the hangar opened, revealing her old master, his master, and Padme Amidala, drawing very surprised looks from both Ahsoka, and the three aforementioned people.

"S-Snips?" Anakin asked in surprise.

"Mas-" Ahsoka began to say, but bit her tongue, since she couldn't call Anakin her master anymore. "Anakin… "

Shon blinked, glancing between the two. "I assume you know one another?" he asked.

"Ahsoka… was once my apprentice," Anakin said with a sigh. "But a lot of stupid things forced her from the Jedi Order…"

The Captain sighed before he decided to change the subject. "Captain Va'kel Shon. you are?"

"Anakin Skywalker," he said. "This is Obi-wan Kenobi and Senator Padme Amidala. Welcome to Coruscant."

"Glad to be here, Mr. Skywalker," Shon said. "Welcome onboard the _Enterprise,_ please follow me - I would rather not want to keep the Klingon representatives waiting."

Shon led them through the halls of the _Odyssey_-Class ship, taking them towards the conference room. "The _Enterprise_ is the seventh ship to bear the name in Starfleet's history," Shon said, giving them a bit of history. "Ninth, if you count the Terran space shuttle, and the NX-01, but both of those were pre-Federation, so we generally don't."

"That's a lot of ships to bear the name." Obi-wan said.

"To quote Admiral Nakamura, every _Enterprise_ has been a legend," Shon said. "The first Federation starship was the NCC-1701, back in 2245. She didn't become a legend until James Kirk's five-year mission. After her destruction, they even renamed one of her sisters _Enterprise_, with the same registry: NCC-1701-A. Every Enterprise has borne that registry, from A to E. And this is the most recent: NCC-1701-F."

"It certainly looks that you've come a long way, and in such short time as well," Padme said, having already read up a bit on the Federation's history during their flight. "You've only been a space faring species for a few centuries, yet you've accomplished so much in that time."

"Actually, that only applies to humanity," Shon said. "Andorians, Vulcans and a number of races have been spacefaring for thousands of years. But they were responsible for the formation of the Federation. In fact, factions from multiple timelines in the future tried to stop the formation of the Federation a number of times."

"Wait, you're saying you have time travel, too?" Anakin asked,"That's impossible."

"Nah, just really tricky," said a passing crewman. "True, we don't have the technology to do it on command, yet, but if you know all the proper variables, slingshotting around a star will do the trick just fine. Hell, Kirk used it to bring back a pair of sperm whales - which were extinct by our time."

"Saved Earth in the process," Shon picked up where the crewman left off. "Time travel's basically a fact of life that we try to avoid. It doesn't always work." They arrived in the conference room, and they were surprised to see Ron and several members of his senior staff, as well as the Klingons and Romulans, in the room.

"Captain," Ron said, nodding at Shon. Anakin and Obi-wan focused on the man, but… they got very little. "Gentlemen. Stay out of my head."

"You could sense us?" Obi-wan asked in surprise, he didn't feel or seem like a force sensitive.

"Most of my crew are telepathic, and I've learned how to feel when someone's in my head," Ron said. "Half my brain is also a positronic computer, thanks to a certain bunch of assholes."

"I believe that is a story for _another _time, Mr…" Padme said.

"Ronald Pinkerton, captain of the USS _Ra-Cailum,_" Ron said, nodding as he gestured to the other two representatives in the room. "Commander Tiaru Jarok, commander of the Romulan Republic Warbird _Lleiset_, and senior officers, as well as Captain H'jach of the Imperial Klingon Starship _Spearpoint._" Both commanders nodded to identify themselves. "We should be thankful for this, Senator, because this might be the end of a pointless little conflict in our universe."

"We are glad to help," Padme said, nodding. "I can only hope that perhaps this will end our own conflict as well - the Clone Wars have been going on long enough as is."

A map appeared on one of the monitors. "The Federation and the Klingon Empire have been in a state of war for almost five years now," Shon said. "The Romulan Republic, which was formed no less than five months ago, has been doing its' damnedest to end the war as quickly as it can by allying with both sides. That, combined with this, may force Chancellor J'mpok of the Klingon High council to the negotiating table."

"The rift is located inside Republic borders, but it is close enough to Federation and Klingon space to permit its' use by all sides," Tiaru said. "With the possibility of exploring a whole new universe, we hope this will be trump card we all need to end this war before it gets out of hand."

"Hopefully, the same will be for our side," Padme said. "The Clone Wars have been going on for nearly four years now, but it doesn't look like it will be ending anytime soon… every attempt at peace with the Separatists we've attempted has ended with failure time and time again."

"Maybe the fact that we crippled three of their ships and took no damage will make them talk." Shon said.

"Doubtful, Captain. but we'll bring the Federation Diplomatic Corps in and try to deal with them. There is no one better to resolving disputes. So, should we contact whoever is in charge of the Confederacy?"

"That would be Count Dooku, and the Separatist Council," Padme said. "Though getting them to cooperate will be very… difficult. The CIS council is mostly ruled by the Trade Federation, Techno Union, Banking Clan, and other corporate entities who make fortunes building and selling their droid armies and fleets to the CIS cause. "

THAT made them all sickened. "Corporates," Ron muttered. "May all that is holy bless the Federation that we have a moneyless economy. No way for greedy fucks to take control of anything."

"You're going to have to tell us how that works later." Padme said. The comm beeped. "_Captain, message from the_ Raging Tempest _relayed via the local communications network._" Tem said. "_Chancellor J'mpok wants to talk about ending the war._"

"It looks like our gamble is about to pay off," Shon said. "Let the _Tempest _know we've received their message, and we'll be over there once we are done here. "

Padme smiled. "At least one thing is going right." She said. "Perhaps I can introduce you to Chancellor Palpatine?"

"Of course." Shon said, "Captain Pinkerton, could you head back to the rift?"

"Where IS the rift, I might ask?" Obi-wan asked.

Ron pressed a button, displaying the location. "That's less than a parsec from Naboo!" Padme shouted in shock, a bit worried about her homeworld now.

"I don't care where it is, so long as the rift is stable," Ron said. "I'll head back to my ship, and we'll bring back Chancellor War is Life." He stood up, followed by members of his senior staff. "We'll be back in less than a day."

"How?" Anakin asked. "Class-1 hyperdrives aren't THAT fast."

"Class-1?" Ron asked with a shrug. "Meh. Sonja's got that thing up or down a few points."

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_

* * *

Takeshi looked out the viewscreen, seeing the rift before him, along with the various ships that had formed up around it.

In addition to his ship and the _Khepesh_, several other ships had joined them around the rift - an _Oracle_-Class Deep Space Science Vessel was currently conducting scans of the rift itself, and would eventually head over to the other side to begin surveying the galaxy, several Cruisers and Escorts were in formation, as well, along with Romulan Warbirds of various classes, and even some Klingon _Koro't'ingas_, _Vor'chas_, and _Negh'Vars_.

But the ship that had just arrived, carrying Chancellor J'mpok himself, dwarfed just about every other ship there - the Klingons' Flagship, their equivalent to the _Enterprise_, the IKS _Bortasqu'_.

"_I was expecting Captain Shon to be here, Yamato._"

"Captain Pinkerton will be here in a few hours, and he'll gladly give you the blueprints to a device that will allow you to travel in the other universe without any problems," Takeshi informed.

J'mpok closed in on the screen. "_If you are lying, I will destroy that PATHETIC ship of yours. _Bortasqu' _out._" The screen returned the sight of what was outside the ship/.

Takeshi sighed. "Rina, latest update from Ron?" he asked.

"ETA 2 hours and five minutes," Rina replied. "Sir, I doubt J'mpok will stay complacent for more than a few minutes. We know he killed Martok in a private duel under questionable circumstances."

"Sir, activity from the rift. New contact: it's the _Ra-Cailum_," Kim reported.

"They're early," replied a red-headed, blue-eyed woman standing next to Takeshi's console.

"True, but I consider that a good thing, Linda," Takeshi said to her. "Especially considering J'mpok's presence and reputation."

"Ra-Cailum _to_ Bortasqu'." A number of Klingon words flew out from the mouth of the _Ra-Cailum's _CO, and Brok'tan winced at all of them. "He is… insulting J'mpok," he said.

"That's bad," Rina said, before a hearty laugh was heard on the other end. "_I doubted Starfleet had anyone with a spine of tritanium! Yours is neutronium for saying that to the leader of the Empire!_"

"_Shut up, J'mpok. We have a war to end._"

Takeshi turned to Brok'tan. "I know I probably shouldn't ask this, but I'm morbidly curious - what exactly did he say?"

"He called J'mpok the lord of Gre'thor and the bitch of Fek'lhr, as well as several curses that are not to be repeated in good company."

Takeshi winced. "That sounds… particularly nasty," he remarked.

"_Captain, I assume you have the blueprints for some device of some kind?_"

"_It's called a hyperdrive. We've modified the specs to increase its' speed. Think of it like a quantum slipstream drive on steroids that can work with a QSD to increase its' speed._"

"_Something we barely survived, thank you very much!_"

"_There's a few problems we have to work on, but we can do them together, or you can continue to be a prideful fool and cut yourself out of this._"

Takeshi blinked. That Hyperdrive sounded rather useful.

"_Interesting. I will see you soon above one of the worlds of this new universe._"

The reply to J'mpok was in Klingon, and once more, it was not translated.

"What'd he say?"

"'Prove to those that are Klingon by blood that you are klingon in heart', as well as a large number of insults to J'mpok's family name."

"Meaning?"

"Captain Pinkerton has told J'mpok that the Chancellor is not Klingon."

Takeshi winced. "The Chancellor said Ron had a spine of neutronium," he remarked. "I think he's got _balls_ of neutronium, too, for insulting like that."

* * *

**On the other side**

* * *

"Over 160 member worlds, dozens of races from outside the Federation serving in Starfleet, and your only goal is knowledge of the universe?" Padme asked, sounding both surprised and impressed by the basic summary of the Federation's mission.

"Yes," Shon said, nodding. "In fact, the _Enterprise_'s continuing mission is to explore strange new life forms and civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before. While we do have MACO, Starfleet is officially for exploration, research and diplomacy."

"Your ships are also spacefaring death, Captain," Obi-wan said. "Four CIS frigates crippled from warning shots."

"Master Kenobi, our policy is not to make the first move," Shon said. "We gave them ample opportunity to stand down and walk away. They refused."

Obi-wan and Anakin shared a look before the latter spoke up. "Sounds like a very… Jedi way of operating," Anakin said, shrugging.

"I keep hearing that term - exactly what is a Jedi?" the Romulan representative asked.

"A Jedi is a user of the Force, a follower of the way of the light side of the Force," Obi-wan elaborated. "For over a thousand generations, the Jedi have defended the Republic from countless threats. We are scholars, healers, and diplomats, and warriors when the need arises."

"Interesting…" The Romulan said. "Though what sets you apart from anyone else in the galaxy? And what is this 'Force'?"

"The Force is an energy field which combines the universe - surrounds us, penetrates us," Obi-wan said. "Jedi such as myself and Anakin are sensitive to the Force - allowing us to perform many abilities including telekinesis, psychic abilities, and healing otherwise fatal wounds."

"Sounds interesting," Shon said. "Perhaps-"

"_Bridge to Captain._"

"Go ahead."

"_Sir, message from the _Ra-Cailum_: Chancellor J'mpok is on his way on board the _Bortasqu'."

"Oh, that's great."

"I assume we will soon be meeting the leader of your galaxy's equivalent to Mandalorians?" Obi-wan asked, getting a slightly interested look from H'jach.

"Mandalorians?" he asked, sounding Intrigued.

"Yes. They were, and sort of are, warriors from the Mandalore system," Obi-wan said. "Thousands of years ago, they nearly conquered known space. When the Republic decided to make the Mandalorians stop being a threat, they bombed Mandalore into submission. They… did not try again after that. Some are trying to revive the old ways, but they're glory-seeking idiots who cause nothing but destruction and death."

"Much as our warriors have become," H'jach said. "They have forgotten the ways of duty, loyalty and true honor."

"I just hope the new Mandalorians don't fall back too those ways…" Obi-wan said with a sigh "They made so much progress renouncing war, exiling the warrior clans, and becoming pacifist… But with Satine dead, and with Maul and his brother in control with Almec... I don't know what to expect from them next."

"Dishonor."

"Why did he have to take the _Bortasqu'_? A _Negh'var_ would have done fine!"

"What's so important about the _Bortasqu'_?"

Shon looked Anakin in the eye. "The _Bortasqu_ is the counterpart to the _Enterprise_, both in flagship status and firepower. And they don't have our restrictions. Anyone offends them in any way, J'mpok will destroy them."

"Then let's hope no one offends J'mpok," Padme said. "Last thing we need is a shoot out now of all times."

* * *

BGM: Star Trek: Klingon Academy title

The Bortasqu' dropped out of hyperspace, shooting towards Coruscant at flank speed. The bulky superdreadnought was followed by five more ships, and shot past any Republic patrol craft as if they were an insult.

"_Klingon vessel _Bortasqu'_, this is the Republic defense fleet: you have clearance to dock at naval yard 4._" The RDF operator said, "Setting NAV data now."

"This is Captain Koren of the IKS _Bortasqu_': we are entering parking orbit. Keep your ships at at least 12000 kellicams away, or we will take their proximity as hostile actions."

There was a short pause before a reply came. "_Roger that _Bortasqu'_, we'll keep them away,_" the operator said. "_Welcome to Coruscant._"

A mutter of 'what's a kilicam' was heard before the channel closed. Standing behind Koren was J'mpok. The leader of the Klingon people had many things on his mind. Pinkerton's insults were not the words of a Starfleet officer. They were of a warrior criticizing another for dishonorable actions. In the time he spent on the way to Coruscant, J'mpok was forced to look at his actions. Pinkerton was right. The three tenants of the Klingon way were duty, loyalty and honor. In acting before talking to the Federation Council, he had betrayed the Federation, proving he was not loyal to his allies. That same point also proved his failing in duty: he failed to say anything to the Federation Council, instead acting by invading the Gorn Hegemony. And everything after that showed his final failing: he had acted without honor.

'_Now we find ourselves in a new universe… _' J'mpok thought to himself as he turned left the bridge of the _Bortasqu,_ heading for his quarters. '_I've made too many mistakes already… I shall not make those same mistakes here as well._'

The moment he entered, he sealed the door. He had to contemplate his failings. If he had failed to the nth degree, he would undergo the hegh'bat to attempt to redeem himself.

"Suicide, even assisted, will not redeem you, J'mpok."

J'mpok spun around, drawing his knife. "Who's there?!" he shouted in Klingon. "Show yourself!"

A blue glow from behind him attracted his attention, but he froze when he saw the face of the intruder. "You have strayed far, but you DO seek redemption, do you not?"

"Kahless..." J'mpok muttered before his eyes narrowed. "Is this another trick? We were once fooled by a clone of Kahless before, it shall not happen again!"

"I am not a clone." Kahless said, "I am not even among the living. I left Sto'vo'kor to wander the plains of existence, and have seen many things in my time. And I have seen your actions. While I am ashamed to see that you have betrayed the Klingon way, you realize that and wish to correct that."

J'mpok was still not entirely convinced the figure before him was Kahless, it was still entirely possible he was a hologram of some sort. "And how do you, Kahless the Unforgettable, suggest I do _that?_" he asked. "After all of the people - both fellow Klingons, our member races, Gorn, and people of the Federation - have died because of my orders?"

"You cannot change the past, but you can bring the future." Kahless said, "Remember the teachings I left behind. Duty to your fellow warriors, respect for your enemies, loyalty to your allies and honor to guide you."

J'mpok dropped the knife to the deck. "We have strayed far from the path of honor." He muttered. "The way of the warrior was lost to us."

"Not entirely," Kahless said, smiling slightly. "Listen to the news of this galaxy, J'mpok… pay close attention to the people who call themselves Mandalorians. They, too, were great warriors here, but many had lost their path to honor… but that will be subjected to change, and _very _soon."

* * *

**Coruscant - Chancellor's office **

* * *

Sheev Palpatine, Chancellor of the Republic, awaited the arrival of the Starfleet and Klingon representatives, and tried to figure them into his plan to destroy the Jedi. "Chancellor, Captain Shon and Chancellor J'mpok are here, as well as several others." His secretary said.

"Send them in," Palpatine said, nodding, standing up from his chair as the doors to his office opened, as the Klingon Leader and the Federation Captain. "Ah, at last we meet in person," he said. "I have been hearing many stories these last few weeks about your arrival. I am Chancellor Palpatine, head of the Galactic Republic, it is a true honor to meet you."

Shon bowed slightly. "Va'kel Shon of the Federation starship _Enterprise_," he said. "A pleasure, Chancellor."

"I am J'mpok, son of G'tawn, leader of the Klingon Empire." Both men looked at Palpatine and discovered one thing. The bastard creeped the hell out of them.

"I look forward to great things between both of our great peoples," Palpatine said, smiling. "Perhaps with your help, we can bring some sense to the Separatists, and end this war before it goes on any further."

"The Federation Diplomatic Corps is VERY good at their job." J'mpok said, "Dare I say, they are the greatest diplomats in two universes."

Shon looked at J'mpok in surprise. "Chancellor, that was-"

"Captain, recent events have forced me to look into my soul." J'mpok said, "I realize that we were wrong to not share our information with you regarding the Gorn, but what is done is done."

"Might I ask where Master Kenobi and young Skywalker are, gentlemen?" Palpatine asked. Shon gave him a datapad that was far more compact than any of theirs. "On board the _Ra-Cailum_, to meet with the Federation Council."He said.

"Ah," Palpatine said, nodding. "I am curious though, what shall be your plan for the Separatists though? All of our attempts to negotiate so much as a cease-fire have ended in failure."

Shon was about to reply, however the comm system next to Palpatine beeped on. "Oh, my apologies - excuse me for a moment." Palpatine said, as he activated the holo-projector. "What is it?"

"_Excuse me for interrupting chancellor, but we are picking up a transmission from Mandalore._" The Rodian on the holo projector said, as J'mpok rose an eyebrow in interest. "_It's being broadcasted across Republic space._"

"Put it through."

* * *

"_People of Mandalore!_" Prime Minister Almec said, below him the masses of the people awaited yet another one of his speeches. "_As many of you have seen, there was a streak of violence these past few weeks, as those still loyal to the traitor Satine murdered Pre Vizsla, and bought chaos to our capital!_"

"_I appear for you now, as I broadcast this report across the galaxy!_" Almec shouted, "_The Traitor Satine is now dead! Killed as she attempted to take over Mandalore, and force us back to our way which nearly had us enslaved by the shadow collective! But we will no longer serve those like Satine, who would see us to ruin! We will not follow or cooperate with those who murdered our Mandalore Vizsla!_"

"He's full of himself," Ron muttered, as he and the representatives watched the galactic message from Mandalore. "And you said these guys were once Warriors?"

"The Mandalorians nearly conquered the Republic 4,000 years ago," Obi-wan said. "Their Warriors were, and still are very dangerous."

"Remind me to rip this asshole a new hole if the Republic asks us to do anything," Ron said with a groan. "Oh, there are days I LOATHE the Prime Directive. Can't help those that truly need it unless they ask!"

"_We shall defend ourselves from those who still support Satine!_" Almec shouted. "_We will-_" however he was cut off as suddenly three small pillars of red light appeared a short distance behind him, and appearing from those pillars were two men and one woman in Mandalorian Shock-Trooper armor - much to the surprise of those watching.

"What the _fuck?!_" Was the combined reply from those watching, as before Almec could realize what happened, the tallest man spun him around, and delivered a knock-out punch right into the man's jaw.

"What was that?" Obi-wan shouted.

"THAT, Master Kenobi, was a Klingon transporter," Ron said. "The Empire hasn't sent any more ships into this universe: we have a tachyon detection grid set up to make sure of that."

"A what?" Anakin asked.

"Long story," Ron said. "Basically, it detects cloaked ships, and none have crossed over. So how the fuck did they get their hands on a Klingon warship?"

"_Sorry for the interruption, but I honestly couldn't listen to that Chakaar anymore._" The man who knocked Almec out said. "_I can't stand listening to this man _lie _to you anymore._" He then turned to face the people. "_People of Mandalore! My name is Aren Takeo of clan Takeo! Everything Almec has told you is a lie! Satine Kryze did not kill Pre Vizsla! She was still imprisoned during the time of his assassination! The true assassin was the leader of the Shadow Collective himself! The Sith Lord Darth Maul!_"

Behind Aren, the image projector behind them switch to that of the Sundarii royal palace, as it clearly showed Maul appearing, challenging Pre to a one-on-one duel, as they all saw the duel take place, and Maul killing Pre with his own Darksaber, causing many gasps of surprise. "_Almec is working with Maul! All along! And would have us wage war with the Republic and CIS in a war we are not ready for! While we are still divided and spread across the galaxy!_" Aren shouted, before he rose up what looked like an ancient mask. "_I come to you today, telling you that it is time for all Mandalorians to be united - for I have found the true Mask of Mandalore! Worn by Mandalore the first, and last worn by Mandalore the Preserver, their blood upon this mask as proof!_"

Ron tapped his commbadge. "Pinkerton to bridge," He said.

"_Henderson_."

"Set a course to Mandalore, maximum speed," he said. "Kick in the quantum slipstream and the hyperdrive at the same time."

"_Whoa, sir, we barely survived the FIRST time we used it!_"

"Just do it, Commander!" Ron shouted.

"_Mandalore belongs to the Mandalorians! Never again shall we fall to the same fires that scattered us through the excision!_" Aren continued to say. "_While Satine was correct, that we should not be raging raiders like in our past, we cannot become the victims like we were when the Collective first attacked us! We shall abide by the Mandalorian Supercommando Codex written by Jaster Mereel! We will no longer be conquerors, we shall be liberators and protectors! And no one shall ever threaten mandalore ever again! I call out to all of the children of Mandalore across the galaxy - anyone who calls themselves a true Mandalorian - it it finally time to come home!"_

"Sonja, get us to Mandalore NOW!"

* * *

**Mandalore system**

* * *

"Sir, we have managed to capture Maul," a Mandalorian said, as Aren sat in the throne room of Sundarii, looking over the tactical readouts of reports of Mandalorian clans one after another complying with his order for their return. "It seemed he was already badly wounded in a past battle however, lightning marks suggest with another Sith. We cannot find the second Sith however. It may be possible the second one attempted to kill him."

"Make sure Maul is locked up - tightly," Aren said. "I want to make sure he'll be as harmless as a Gizka. I want him locked up behind a force cage, containment fields, I want to make sure he can't so much as _twitch _to use the Force. We're gonna be asking him a _lot _of questions in the near future." He then glanced at his son. "Did you take care of the schematics?"

"Yes Mandalore, Mandal Hypernautics, MandalMotors, and MandalTech have been given the specs on the _B'mak_ and the weapons we scavenged from the bodies," he said. "They'll begin testing on them soon, and use the tech to improve our own blasters. We're also going through its records, we'll find out all we can from it and wherever it's from."

"Make sure you do," Aren said, nodding. "If these Klingons are still around, the least we can do is return their dead back home." He then stood up. "We will be relocating the capital back to Keldabe in a few days. Maul's supporters are now dead, and Almec is back in prison where he belongs… we must now begin rebuilding all that was lost to us. We need to be ready - the CIS or Republic may try to make a move, and I refuse to watch Mandalore burn again."

"Mandalore, the B'mak is reporting that a ship is entering the system," another Mandalorian said. "It's not Republic or CIS."

"Tell them to stay under cloak and try to ID them."

* * *

The _B'mak _remained under cloak as a young woman sat in the command chair of the vessel. "It's not in any Republic or CIS files…" she mused. "Try to compare it to ships the B'mak had in its records - just in case."

"Ma'am, it seems the vessel is a 'Federation' vessel," one of the operators said. "Data suggests it is a Sovereign-class Starship - she's big and she's mean."

"Define 'mean'," she asked.

"That ship outguns us fifty to one, plus-"

"_Klingon vessel, this is the Federation Starship _Ra-Cailum_. I know you're there, so you have two choices: decloak and we talk about this peacefully, or I MAKE you decloak and transport the lot of you to my brig and call in the Klingons to take their ship back. your choice._"

"-And his sensors can see us." The operator said.

The woman sighed, "Mand'alor, the ship is a Federation starship from the records - it seems their sensors can spot us, and they are asking for us to decloak. Orders?"

"_Decloak and hail them,_" Aren said on the comm. "_No need to fight a battle we can't win when we could end this peacefully. Don't do anything rash up there, Amy._"

Amy nodded as she hit the hailing frequency, "This is the Mandalorian Bird of Prey B'mak, we read you Ra-Cailum." She said as their vessel decloaked. "We're not looking for a fight here - welcome too Mandalore."

"_B'mak, this is Captain Pinkerton of the _Ra-Cailum_. I'm going to have to request that you transport back to the surface before the Klingons show up and demand their ship back. By force. BIG mistake doing that in front of a live camera, dumbass._"

"_So, these Klingons are still alive today?_" Aren said, as his voice was patched through. "_This is Mand'alor the Redeemer, if the Klingons wish to have their ship back, they are more than welcome to take it - along with the bodies of its former crew we found onboard._"

A sigh was heard. "_Mandalore, I'd like to speak with you in person. Give me your coordinates, and I'll transport you on board the _Ra-Cailum_. No harm will come to you, at least as long as you don't try anything… rash. We've heard of what you do when you think you're being insulted._"

"_I am not interested in going to war with your Federation, Captain,_" Aren said. "_I shall send you mine and my son's coordinate, he goes where I go._"

"_Understood, Mandalore. We await your arrival._"

* * *

"Mandalore, this has to be a trap."

"I doubt it," Aren said as he and Jaden awaited to be transported. "From what the files on the B'mak said, the Federation tries its best to promote peace, and avoid war through negotiations and diplomacy. They won't strike so long as we do not provoke them. The last thing we need now is a war with a faction like Starfleet."

"I know…" Jaden said with a sigh. "I'd rather like to keep the B'mak if possible… I was really starting to like her."

"We have all of its data, as well as data from its memory banks on other starships and technology," Aren said. "Not to mention the individual weapons we found onboard as well - losing the B'mak would not be that bad now."

"Ra-Cailum _to Mandalore: we're locked onto you. Energizing._" Blue-white columns of light surrounded Aren and Jaden, and they reappeared in a cleaner, more streamlined transporter room in front of a pretty-looking blonde woman in a black, gray and red uniform with two rank pins and a delta-arrow badge.

"Welcome on board the _Ra-Cailum_. I'm Lieutenant Riza Pinkerton. For your own protection, as well as ours, we disabled your weapons mid-transport. Don't want to cause any fire-fights."

Jaden rolled his eyes. "Still think this isn't a trap?" he asked.

"We don't need weapons to fight - hopefully we won't be IN a fight," Aren said.

"Only if you start one." Riza said. "Follow me: I'll take you to the bridge. My brother will want to speak with you in person."

"Lead the way, miss Pinkerton." Aren said nodding, as Riza lead them out of the transporter room as they headed towards the bridge.

"So how DID the Federation get here?" Jaden asked, "From the star charts and records on the BoP, we assumed you were from a different galaxy."

"Actually, we're from a different universe." Riza said. "The more technical term is alternate quantum reality, but potato po-tah-to, really."

"Interesting..." Aren said, "I am assuming the Klingons are here as well?"

"Chancellor J'mpok is at Coruscant on a ship that is about five times meaner then the Ra-Cailum." Riza said. "And his disposition is NASTY."

"I assumed that Chancellor Gowron was still in charge," Aren said. "Did something happen?"

"Gowron's dead, and so's his replacement, Martok." Riza said, as they entered the turbolift. "My brother can explain more. Bridge."

The lift took them upwards to the top of the ship, then opened, revealing the bridge. "Message from the _Enterprise_, Captain: the _Bortasqu'_ is en route. J'mpok is still on the planet, but Captain Koren will take care of securing the _B'mak_."

"Thank you, Corpie."

"Don't call me that."

Aren looked at Ron, and nodded slightly. He knew a strong warrior when he saw one, and Ron looked to be a very strong warrior. "Captain Pinkerton, I presume?" He asked.

"And you must be Mandalore." Ron said, turning to face him. "Welcome on board the _Ra-Cailum_. I assume my sister - who didn't get her job through nepotism before you ask - gave you some of the intel you need?"

"She has told me the basics - your from a different galaxy, and Chancellor Gowron has been replaced by a Klingon named J'mpok."

"Different universe, actually," Ron said. "Your ship's database and most of its' technology, including that nifty cloaking device, are four decades out of date. The Klingons and the Federation are currently in a state of war, but thanks to your universe, we're getting closer to ending this ridiculous conflict."

"Very good," Aren said, nodding. "I hope to speak with this new chancellor soon, I believe there is much we can discuss together. Though I must ask why you saw it necessary to come here to Mandalore so... Abruptly. We have no intentions of going to war against either you or the Republc."

"Starfleet General Order One: non-warp capitable societies are not to obtain technology they are not ready for," Ron said. "And judging from your use of the Klingon BoP's transporters and your… reconquest of your planet, the Prime directive applies. Plus, the _B'mak_ belongs to the Klingons, and open salvage does NOT apply to them."

"We used the B'mak's transporter to apprehend a man who was responsible for the murder of children through illegal smuggling operations." Aren said, "He and Maul were fully planning to use Mandalore as a base to conquer other non-republic or CIS worlds. I reclaimed Mandalore from them to avoid us getting into a pointless war we could not win. I have no intentions of going to war with anyone - my only concern is reviving Mandalore's industry, economy, and military which have been long neglected in favor for Satine's overly-pacifist ways that had us nearly conquered by crime lords and slavers."

"I'm glad to hear that." Ron said. "Still, I want to AVOID getting your world involved in a war before it begins. The Klingons will kick your asses if you offend them by not returning their ship to them. Of course, if they say you can have it, I have no issues. but if they say hand it over, I would recommend doing… exactly that."

"I understand that," Aren said nodding. "If they want the B'mak back, they can have it and the bodies of the crew. We have them in stasis to avoid them from further decay, so they could be returned home for the proper Klingon burials they deserve."

"Yeah, Klingon death rituals are more different then you know," Ron said. "Corpie-"

"DON'T call me that."

"It's a pet name, Corpsa. Signal the _Bortasqu'_ that we've made contact and that they are willing to talk for the _B'mak_. In the meantime, I'm willing to take you both on a tour, as well as our Jedi guests."

"Of course," Aren said, nodding. "I'm curious to see how different this ship is from ours."

"Then follow me."

* * *

**IKS **_**Bortasqu'**_

* * *

"Captain, we are dropping out of FTL speed. Mandalore is directly ahead."

"Take us to battle stations!" Koren shouted. "I trust the word of that Federation _qoh_ as far as I could throw him!" The dreadnought dropped out of hyperspace, 5000 kilometers (or 2500 kilicams) from the two ships. "This is Captain Koren of the Imperial Klingon Warship _Bortasqu'_! surrender the _B'mak_ and the bodies of the crew to us immediately!"

"_This is Mand'alor, it is already done,_" a reply came. "_The _B'mak _is yours, as is its former crew._"

"_This is Captain Pinkerton of the _Ra-Cailum_. We're picking up a target approaching via hyperspace. I recommend you stand to yellow alert._"

"I will not do as a Federation _p'tak_ asks!"

"_Your funeral, Captain._"

The science post beeped out a warning. "Captain, Pinkerton is correct! Something approaches!"

"Battle stations!"

* * *

"How the hell can you detect something in hyperspace?" Jaden asked.

"VERY easily." Ron said. "Send out a tachyon pulse. I think our friend is cloaked."

Sonja looked at her CO. "How the hell did a cloaked ship get past the net?"

"There are many ways to get past a tachyon detection grid, Soni, but they are VERY hard to pull off."

"I'll send a message for our ships to be prepared for anything." Aren said, "But do we have any idea who is approaching?"

"Pulse has been fired." Ron said, "And… nothing. Oh, shit."

"What?"

"Only one type of cloaking device isn't affected by a tachyon particle burst. And the last time a _Sovereign_-class ship ran into one, it got ass-raped." Ron said. "Stand to battle stations: there's a _Scimitar _out there!"

"What's a _Scimitar_?" Jaden asked.

"It's a Romulan warbird, only type that can both remain cloaked, shielded, and capable of firing weapons," Sonja answered. "Last ship to ever face one was the USS _Enterprise-_E, and that was thanks to a mixture of luck and the Big E taking a hell of a lot of damage herself."

"Does it have any recorded weaknesses?" Aren asked, knowing that if they were weary of this monster if its out there, so should they.

"Only one that we know of: shooting the thalaron core will destroy the ship." Sonja said. "Problem is, it's internalized."

The _Ra-Cailum_ shuddered from several disruptor impacts. "Corpie, fire phasers, zero-elevation, stand by photon and quantum torpedoes." Ron ordered.

"Ready, Captain."

Aren and his son looked at Ron. "QUANTUM torpedoes?"

"The one edge we have," Ron said. "FIRE!"

The _Ra-Cailum_ fires a full spread of Phasers and Torpedoes, firing where the shots just came from and everything around the area. They managed to score a few hits as they could see its shields flare, but it was only temporary before the _Scimitar _vanished again.

Aren glanced at his Son, who nodded. "Captain, if you would allow it, may my Son use your weapons station?" he asked. "He might be able to score a few more hits."

"I don't see how, but give it a try." Ron said. "Corp, coordinate with the Bortasqu' and B'mak tactical officers in the meantime."

Jaden moved to the weapons station, thankfully they weren't too different from the ones on the _B'mak._ He removed his helmet, before he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. '_Come on, where are you…_' he thought to himself.

"How do you expect to hit a thing if your eyes are-" Corpsa began to say, before Jaden's hands flew across the controls as he fired a series of phasers and photon torpedoes in a single direction… and each and every shot hit their mark as they impacted against the _Scimitar's _shields. As soon as they were in the forward launcher's firing arc, Ron signalled Corpsa to fire quantum torpedoes, knocking out its cloak.

"_Bortasqu'_. begin your assault!" Ron commanded, "_B'mak_, pull back and provide support!"

"_Not happening, Starfleet! Let's show you what a Klingon can do!_"

The B'rel-Class raider closed in on the Scimitar, and Ron face-palmed. "Idiot." The Scimitar began firing at the B'mak, and while the agile bird of prey avoided some of the fire, several disruptor cannon bolts impacted the shields, then impacted the hull, disabling the Klingon-built ship. "Told you to pull back, and what do you do?"

"Captain Pinkerton… if you can take her shields down, we might be able to board her," Aren suggested. "With the _B'mak _disabled, the Romulans may leave it alone. We beam a team over there, the _Scimitar _gets close, we beam a team of our best over. Mine, yours and the Klingons."

"And that would include me," Ron said. "Sonja, reconfigure the deflector dish to send out a high-energy resonance pulse."

"What's that going to accomplish, Captain?" Jaden asked, "What the hell does that even mean?"

"Watch and learn." The _Ra-cailum's_ deflector fired out a beam, impacting the shields and destabilizing them. "_Bortasqu'_, focus all fire on her aft shield quadrant!"

The _Bortasqu' _did as instructed, as it fired all of its weapons at the Romulan warbird, impacting against its shields, further draining them. As this happened, Aren activated his suit comm. "Amy, get Araniik Team ready for deployment," he said. "Tell the Klingons we're going to be boarding the _Scimitar_, and they're more than free to join us."

"Sonja, you're in command until I get back." Ron said.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"With you, Mand'alore. I know that ship better than anyone, and I can probably take full control of it should the assholes on board decide to do anything that screws your attack teams over."

Aren nodded, agreeing with the sound assessment. "Alright, let's go." He said, grinning a bit. "I'd hate to keep the Romulans waiting."

"Might not be Romulans." Ron said, "There are Remans who use those things, too: they originally designed that thing. I'll go get you something more… shall we say better then the shit you're using."

"You obviously have never seen Mandalorian Shock-Trooper armor in action." Aren said, "We ran tests, Beskar may not be perfect, but it holds out well enough against disruptors. Add that to the new personal energy shields we added… don't judge a book by its cover."

"Wasn't talking about the armor: don't give a fuck about that." Ron said. "I was talking about your weapons. I know you've got Klingon disruptor rifles, but I have better weapons in my armory. Follow me."

Jaden glanced at his father, who shrugged as the two left the bridge and followed Ron towards the armory. "A Gun's a gun, either way," Jaden said. "Though I've been interested to see what a Federation Phaser is like, we've only seen the Klingon reports on the B'mak so far."

They entered the Deck 3 armory, and Ron picked out two rifles that were clearly Federation-designed: one that looked like a conventional rifle, the other having prongs. "Standard type-3 phaser rifle and a type-3B compression rifle. The second one's more for CQC while the other's more adaptable: shotgun, sniper, full-auto assault, etc. Phasers are more of an everyman-weapon while disruptors are designed to brute force their way through their targets."

"Interesting…" Aren said, picking up the phaser rifle. "Similar to a DC-17m, only it doesn't need interchangeable parts."

"I'll take one, but I'll keep my own weapons with me," Jaden said, picking up a Phaser Rifle.

"There's a few disruptors in there if you want to get your hands on them. As soon as you're done, we'll head to transporter room 4." Ron picked up a belt before fastening it to his waist and pressing a button to activate it. "Here's hoping I don't need to resort to my… other devices."

"So do we," Aren said, as he and Jaden finished suiting up. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

**IRW **_**Decius**_

* * *

The crew were, predictably, Romulans, and while the Klingons were better warriors, the Romulan bastards had the advantage of knowing the ship better than the Klingons. Even the more seasoned Mandalorians were having trouble with the pointy-eared bastards.

"Eat it Chakaar!" A Mandalorian shouted, firing away with a Z-6 Rotary cannon, providing fire support as his fellow Mandalorians advanced forward with the Klingons. "Yeah! Suck it ya bastards!"

"Your friend is rather trigger-happy…" one of the Klingons muttered to a Mandalorian as they took cover behind a bulkhead.

"He's just letting out some steam," The Mandalorian said, "He hasn't been able to actually get a challenge in a while, fighting Droids of the CIS is _way _too easy - they're machines, no imagination, no creativity. We've been looking for a good battle, and now we've got one!"

A disruptor beam hit the Z-6 cannon, causing a bit of an explosion. "Idiot warriors," a Romulan snarked, "How you left your homeworlds if beyond us when you are too stupid to use your heads!" BOTH warrior cultures took offence to that, as the Mandalorian and the Klingon looked at one another.

"He did _not _just say that," the Mandalorian Growled.

"He Did," the Klingon growled. "You will burn in the fires of Gre'thor, p'tahk!"

"You're fucking lunch meat, Mir'osik!" THe Mandalorian shouted, before the Mandalorians and Klingons rose out from their cover, as they both proceeded to unleash fifty kinds of hell on the Romulans. While they were making progress, it was rather slow going.

"Mand'alore, the Romulan bastards are using underhanded shit to keep us from advancing!" Amy reported, as she fired her WESTAR-35 Blaster Pistol at the Romulans, while speaking to her wrist-mounted comm. "They're tricky little Chakaar, I'll give 'em that!"

"_They're Romulans: deceit and guile are their calling cards._" A voice that was _not _Aren said. "'_To be unknown is to be unconquerable' is their maxim, and to be honest, if I can take out an army without ever meeting them, I couldn't care less._"

"Who the hell are you?!" Amy asked.

"_Ronald Pinkerton of the _Ra-cailum."

Amy recalled Ronald Pinkerton being the captain she spoke with briefly while she was onboard the _B'mak._ "Alright, where the hell are you, and where is Mand'alor?" she asked.

"_He's with me. They're just covering me while I take control of the gravity plating in that section of the ship._"

"WHAT?"

"_Relax. Anyone ready for green salsa?_"

"What the hell is salsa?!"

"_Give me a second and you'll find out. Increasing gravity to 20 times normal._"

"Everyone brace!" Amy shouted, as at that moment right before their eyes several Romulans suddenly slammed to the deck hard, gravity increasing so much that their bodies seemed to… implode in a green mess.

"Oh… _that's _what he meant," Amy mused.

"_Reducing gravity to standard Earth norms. I can clear out the rest of the ship that way, if you'd like - oh hell. give me a minute: asshole alert._"

"We'll keep advancing, let us know when you're ready to do that again." Amy said before turning to her fellow Mandalorians and Klingons. "The hell are you standing around for? We ain't getting paid by the hour here! Move up!"

* * *

"Fucking Tal Shiar just don't know when to leave things alone!" Ron shouted as he popped his head out of cover before shooting two operatives in the head with his compression rifle.

"At least we're earning this ship!"

"No, you're not! The Federation and the Klingons signed an agreement with the Romulan republic stating, and I quote 'any renegade Romulan vessels are to be turned over to their custody'. There are only two ways you're getting this ship: not and happening!"

"Yeah well, the Mandalorians never signed that agreement," Aren said, as one Romulan tried to get close, only for him to draw out a knuckle Viro-blade and stab him in the forehead. "And after reading up on these Romulans and all that Xenophobic attitude they have, do you _want _them to have _more _of these things?"

"Not the Star Empire, you idiot: the Republic was formed five months ago!" Ron retorted. "They rejected the stupidity! And as for you, the ratio of boarders on this lovely shitbox are 30% Mandalorian, 25% Starfleet and 45% Klingon! And if you want to get technical, I'M the one in control of this fucking ship now!" A disruptor beam impacted Ron's personal shield, followed by three more. "Magic number."

"That's unless the Romulans and Klingons have anything to say about that," Aren said, as he raised his hand and activated his flamethrower which proceeded to torch another Romulan, burning him into a crisp while firing his own blaster pistol down the hallway as more began to show up. "You can have the ship, but we'll be taking its technical data. We'll need to find more weaknesses in these things if these Tal Shiar fucks try this shit again."

A beam hit Ron again, but instead of the flare up they expected, a field surrounded his turso on impact. The surviving Tal shiar looked at one another before the Mandalorians shot them.

"What the hell was that?" Aren asked. "That wasn't any personal shield I've ever seen."

"It was Borg," Ron said. "I'm an ex-drone. And considering the Klingons only put in bare-bones intel on those bastards, you probably have no clue what I'm talking about."

"Hybrid organic/machine race bent on universal assimilation into their collective?" Aren asked. "They had a bit of intel on them, but not much. "

"I was assimilated 6 years ago," he said. "Liberated on Stardate 86015.7." At the confused look, he translated that into normal timekeeping. "Six months ago. I was given command of the _Ra-Cailum_ two weeks later. I've been working hard at making sure these ridiculous conflicts come to a swift and relatively bloodless end ever since."

"I can understand that," Aren said nodding. "Klingon reports don't consider the Borg that massive of a threat… but the way you talk about them, they sound like a much bigger threat than the Klingons give them credit for. "

"The Klingons never suffered an attack on their capital world by the Borg twice in a row," Ron said. "We did. And we barely stopped them both times. They even used time travel to try and undo the Federation before it was born."

"Wait, TIME TRAVEL?" Aren asked. "You have time travel, too?"

"It was 36 years ago. I'll explain later," Ron said. "I'll pull up the specs for the thalaron weapon and download them into a datapad. You can develop a countermeasure from those."

"I asked for the ship's specifications."

"Too bad. It's either the weapon or nothing. I've taken a brief look at your history, and while you state your intention not to get involved in galactic affairs, I have to worry about the security of the Federation, the Romulan Republic, even the Klingons."

"Yet you're giving me a weapon that could destroy planets," Aren asked skeptically.

"A weapon we have a countermeasure for."

"And it's a useless weapon once Planetary shields are involved, I assume," Aren said. "We don't have any interest in using Planet-killers to begin with - we're not Sith."

"I'm a student of history, and history's stated that your people don't care how you win so long as you do, but putting that aside, we do have work to do. I'll take you to the bridge. since I'm the only one who knows how, I'll need you to cover me while I disable the thalaron generator."

"Why?"

A shudder was felt throughout the ship. "Because they've armed the cascading biogenic pulse weapon. We can't fire, or else it'll set off prematurely. And thalaron radiation… is not kind to organic material."

"Alright," Aren said, "I'll keep your ass covered, just don't get us killed." As he followed Ron though, he saw a small text appear over his hud, a text message from his son which read 'Got it'. Causing Aren to smirk slightly.

'How much did you get?' Aren sent back.

'Wasn't able to get the _Scimitar's_ own specs, but we've copied the standard specs for Romulan weapon, shields and cloak.' Jaden replied. 'Not as good, but more than enough.'

'Perfect, keep it nice and secured for MandalTech, Motors and Hypernautics.' Aren sent back. 'If we want to be prepared if these bastards show up again, we need to know how their tech works.'

"The bridge is three levels up, and we've only got seven minutes until it fires."

"Plenty of time!" Aren said, before Disruptor bolts shot past them as a Tal shiar officer entered their view holding a disruptor minigun. "Well, that's just fucking great! You were saying something about plenty of time?!"

"Yup." Aren retorted, as he reached out his hand, and suddenly the Romulan had its Minigun yanked from his hands by some invisible force, which then flew into Aren's hands. He then opened fire with it, as he easily cut the Romulan down into burnt up pieces. "Bridge clear."

"Interesting. Same psionic abilities as the Jedi I've met." Ron mused as he walked toward a console and began typing commands into it. "Damn it, it's locked. And data mining it will take too long."

"Then what are-" Ron extended his fist toward the console, and two tubules emerged from his knuckles, connecting and punching through the control panel. "I'm establishing a connection with the ship's computer. Huh. Sneaky like bastard, aren't we, Mr. Takeo?"

"At least I didn't try having him get the _Scimitars _specs." Aren said, knowing what Ron was probably already talking about. "Just standard modern equipment so if these chakaar come back again, we'll stand a better chance without being dependent on you to save our asses."

"This won't be happening again." Ron said, before he focused on the task at hand. "Shutting down the thalaron generators. Rewriting command codes to Romulan Republic standards. Also, found out how they got past the net. They pulled a _Pegasus_ out of their asses."

"And the _Pegasus _is…?" Aren asked, wanting a more detailed explanation.

"I'll explain on the Ra-cailum." Ron said. "The _Lleiset_ will be here in less then an hour. Once they arrive, I'll transfer command to them. I'll see you on my ship." Ron left the bridge, leaving the two Mandalorians to their own devices. "Oh, and you won't be able to access anything without my knowing: I've got a subspace link to the ship's computer thanks to the transceiver in my spine. Since you've proven you can't be trusted with the big boy's toys..."

"We've got what we needed anyways," Aren said. "My first and foremost goal is the protection and reconstruction of Mandalorian society, I have what I need to do that now. As I've said before, I am not looking for a war with the Federation or anyone from your universe or ours."

"Try it, and you'll have three powers banging on your door," Ron said. "I'd prefer it if next time that you ASKED for something instead of just taking it." He had a point there: they DID kinda betray his trust.

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_ **\- conference room - 90 minutes later**

* * *

"In 2351, the USS _Pegasus_, in violation of the now-defunct Treaty of Algeron, tested an experimental cloaking device that shifted the ship out of space time, making it immune to detection or attack." Ron said. "Of course, the cloak failed after the crew decided enough was enough and mutinied in order to stop the experiments. The ship drifted into an asteroid and decloaked. The ship rematerialized inside solid rock."

"Remind us to _never _try that..." Jaden muttered. "Your universe has some crazy-ass technology..."

"You haven't seen anything yet. to prevent unauthorized ships from making their way through, we set up a tachyon detection grid. Anything crossing the beams larger the two meters would set off an alarm, and about fifty different kinds of hell would've been unleashed on the dumb bastard." His chief engineer took over for him. "Problem is, that only works against standard cloaking devices. While we've tested it on the _Scimitar_-Class cloak and proven it works, we haven't tested it against phase-shifted cloaking devices."

"Who would be stupid enough to try? The three times it was developed, it all ended badly and the technology was abandoned."

"Obviously, your Tal Shiar buddies decided it was worth the risk," Aren said. "From what the _B'mak_'s files said 'bout 'em, it's more than likely. But how do we make sure they don't try this again?"

"We know how the cloak works, so we've sent the information back to our side, and the SCE modified the grid's scanners to detect the energy signature they put off," Sonja said.

"The question isn't how, people: it's why. Attacking this side with one ship is pointless and would draw the wrath of the Alpha Quadrant's three major powers down on the Tal Shiar."

Koren scowled as she glanced at the Chancellor. "The Demons," she growled out.

"The… Demons?" Aren asked for clarification. "Who are they?"

"Captain Koren refers to a race known as the Iconians." Ron said. "Their more… well-known title is 'The Demons of Air and Darkness', for their ability to walk from one room into another. And by that, I mean one room to another on _**another fucking planet**_ without the use of a starship."

"Sounds like something the Celestials could do..." Jaden muttered.

"Now we ask, who are they?" Sonja asked.

"An ancient alien race for tens of thousands of years ago," Aren elaborated. "Not much is known about them, but what we do know is they are responsible for the construction of Centerpoint Station, and other similar constructs across the galaxy."

"Well, the Iconians got their asses handed to them in the most spectacular way." Ron said.

"Lots of races banded together and bombed their planet into the stone age?" Aren asked.

"You're VERY good at that. The Iconians survived, and they've been working on rebuilding their little empire for the past hundred thousand years. We've confirmed the Tal Shiar were working for the Iconians, as well as a race called the Elachi. You don't want to know about those assholes."

"If they become a threat to my people, I'll have to." Aren said.

"They kidnap your people, experiment on them and eventually turn you into one of them." The Mandalorians said nothing. There was nothing TO say. "Moving on. The Iconians probably wanted to test our response to an intrusion, hence the Scimitar. And speaking of the Scimitar..."

"The Lleiset is towing it back to the rift so they can get it back to New Romulus." Ron said. "Chancellor J'mpok, do you have anything to add?"

"Yes," the Chancellor said, as he looked at Aren. "I have read the reports from the boarding actions on the _Scimitar_… Koren's warriors reported the Mandalorians fought quite bravely and tenaciously… fighting like Klingons."

"I got similar reports from my men as well," Aren said, nodding. "Your people fight like true warriors, Chancellor… like true Mandalorians. That's something I can highly respect."

"And you returned the _B'mak,_ and her former crew…" J'mpok said. "And for that, you have my thanks…" He then smirked slightly. "I believe this may be he beginning to a very… productive friendship, Mand'alor."

Aren smirked a bit as well as he nodded. "As do I, Chancellor," he said.

"Speaking of friendships, Chancellor-" Ron began to say, before J'mpok rose his hand.

"Yes, I know, Captain," he said. "The Klingon Empire made a grave mistake almost fifteen years ago. We failed to inform you of the Undine's infiltration of the Gorn Hegemony until the conquest was complete. We betrayed you by breaking the Khitomer Accords. And in that… we proved we had lost our understanding of the three blades of virtue. Duty, Loyalty and Honor. We cannot undo the conquest of the Gorn. But I can correct one dishonor."

Ron rose an eyebrow at that. "You wish to reactivate the Khitomer accords?" he asked, and the Chancellor nodded. "Well, I'll have to speak with the Federation Council. And there would probably be a simple condition: territories you conquered that were ceded to the Federation by treaty and systems you took over during the war."

Koren rose in anger. "How dare you!" She shouted. "You insult the warriors who fell-"

"Koren. Sit." J'mpok said. Koren looked like she was about to protest again, but a quick glare from J'mpok forced her to take her seat again. "We understand, and we are willing to cooperate with the Federation."

"About fuckin' time!" Ron said. "I was wondering when this ridiculous conflict would come to an end!"

Koren shook her head in anger and left the conference room, followed by her XO. "Koren feels insulted by your seeming slight."

"It is without honor to fall in a war that never should have happened," Ron said. "We were twisted and manipulated by the Undine. Now that ends. I'll head back to the rift in a few days: Captain Shon wants me to put his new guest through the Academy courses. And because I was an instructor for a couple of years, I'm the best man for the job."

* * *

**Ron the True Fan:** A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the voyages of the Starship _Enterprise _continue. Let's make shit happen!

**Takeshi Yamato: **Definitely an interesting start - looking forward to seeing what follows.

**117Jorn:** Now, let's see what happens when two Sci-Fi Titans clash… Until next time everyone…

**Everyone:**Ja Ne!


	2. Chapter 2

Stars Asunder

Disclaimer: Pointless as it is to state, we own nothing. TARKIN!  
Grand Moff Tarkin: You may fire when ready.  
(Death Star levels Disney HQ)  
Ron: If we did, THAT would happen.

**Ron the True Fan:** Well, the two sides have met and things are changing. Problem is for our heroes, it's too late to stop the greatest event in Wars history: the Rise of the Empire.

**Takeshi Yamato:** Of course, that doesn't mean it'll go _entirely_ like it does in canon.

* * *

**Meanwhile - Serenno**

* * *

Count Dooku sat in his office at Serenno, as he watched the galactic news about the arrival of the people from this new universe arriving, as well as the recent revolt on Mandalore. '_Very interesting…_' Dooku mused to himself at the sheer firepower that the Federation starships were able to unleash. To quote his master upon the reveal of the AT-TE - they would be awe-inspiring if they weren't so terrifying.

From what they could learn, they were able to easily destroy their ships due to how they exploited their own shields - unlike their shields, Deflector shields from their own universe could only be used to repel projectiles or energy weapons, not both. A design flaw that the Federation did not have. Upon learning this, Dooku ensured to commit new resources to developing new shields that can do both. The same mistake will not be made twice.

That being said, Dooku knew they also had to make further improvement to their ships. According to reports from his master, the reactor cores of these new ships were very volatile if overloaded, capable of destroying a small moon. It seems the best materials to use to prevent their own ships from being destroyed is a substance called Tritanium - something nearly 30 times more durable than diamonds.

Getting Tritanium would be difficult, as he had no knowledge of any locations in their universe where Tritanium was openly available. However thankfully, he had recently begun a rather special program which may help turn the tides back into their favor.

Suddenly the comm beeped, signalling that his Master was messaging him. Dooku pressed the accept button, as he stood up and bowed before the holographic image of Darth Sidious. "Master," he said.

"_Lord Tyrannus._" Sidious said, "_I have new instructions for you. When the Federation ambassadors meet with your representative from the CIS, demand things that are unreasonable from the Republic._"

"My Lord, that doesn't make any sense."

"_It does, my apprentice, when we do not want them to end our war. The Jedi are still too strong to be culled by Order 66 so easily._" Dooku had to agree, his master DID have a point. The war's purpose was to wear the Jedi down to their weakest, make the people turn against them and, when the time was right, cut them down.

"I understand, but our ships will not stand much of a chance against the Federation until the program is finished." Dooku said, but his master smirked.

"_They will not get involved,_" he informed. "_Their prime directive prevents them from interfering with other cultures… so long as we avoid provoking them, they will not become involved militarily or by any other means._"

"Foolish of them, but it will work to our advantage, my lord." Dooku said, "What of the Klingons?"

"_They will honor the Federation's Prime Directive in the Khitomer Accords, and the Romulans will do nothing because they are not ready to do anything._" Sidious said, "_In the end, they will be ours to do with as we wish._"

"And the Mandalorans?" Dooku asked.

"_The new Mand'alor has allied his people with the Klingons._" Sidious said, "_They are focused on rebuilding their military and economic strength, so they will not be a major threat. So long as we do not provoke them or the Klingons, they should not do anything in return._"

"Thy will be done, My Master. Soon, the Jedi will fall to our might." The transmission came to an end, and Dooku quickly got to work.

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_ **\- Coruscant orbit**

* * *

_Captain's log, Stardate 86718.4: Starfleet Command has assigned the _Raging Tempest _to watch over the resigning of the Khitomer Accords, which are being held over Coruscant._

_I have to say, the technology from this new universe is very interesting - while weapons and hull materials lag a fair distance behind ours, their FTL - Hyperdrive - is much faster than our Warp Drive, or even Quantum Slipstream. And medical technology is about equal, albeit along different lines. My CMO, Mogire, has been working on getting used to the presence of a Bacta Tank in our medbay - but at least this means we can deal with more than the standard medical issues that crop up in a patrol and minor to moderate battlefield injuries._

_And I'm definitely glad that the Khitomer Accords are being re-signed - with Tal Shiar, the True Way, Breen, Elachi, Hirogen, Borg, Undine, and anything else this universe wants to throw at us, we can't afford a war with the Klingons. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what we can do united again, with the advances both our sides have made, along with the Mandalorians' new alliance with the Klingons._

* * *

The treaty itself was being signed in the Senate building, but with the Clone Wars raging, security was VERY much on the minds of the signatories. The _Ra-Cailum, Enterprise, Bortasqu', Raging Tempest, Lleiset_ and no less than three dozen ships were in orbit, not including EIGHT _Nebula_-Class starships forming a makeshift tachyon detection net.

"Man, kinda rare to see this many ships at one spot these days," Takeshi remarked from his normal spot at the Helm. "Especially so many _Nebula_-Class ships."

"This is an important treaty signing, sir," his tactical officer, Kevin Maxwell, replied. "The reactivation of the Khitomer Accords would make anyone from our side nervous. The Dominion, the True Way, just to name a few: they would fare better with the Federation and the Empire in a state of war."

"Point taken, Kev," Takeshi replied. "Just commenting on the rarity, that's all - with everything going on, we tend to end up needing to be everywhere at once, and we just don't have enough ships to do that with any real numbers."

"We're getting images from the surface, sir," Rina reported. "Looks like they're streaming this over the entire comm network."

The screen began displaying the inside of the Senate chamber, packed full of people from all over the Republic. "_Inside the Senate building, the two leaders of the war from the other side, a Chancellor J'mpok of the Klingon empire and Aennik Okeg of the United Federation of Planets, have entered the chamber, and are heading for the platform made specifically for this signing ceremony._"

Takeshi whistled a bit. "Man, and I thought our communications were state of the art," he said, "but this is being streamed live to almost everywhere in the galaxy… this 'Holonet' sure is something else."

On the screen, J'mpok and the President walked over to a table built into the platform before sitting down at it. "_To all of you just tuning in, the two factions are among the most powerful from the other side, and it's more remarkable that the Federation being a 250 year old nation: barely a child by galactic terms!_" the reporter was saying. "_The Klingon Empire is just under 1700 years old, younger than our Republic, but much older then the Federation. These two giants as allies would strike fear into anyone that-_" An explosion was seen at the far end of the screen, causing chaos inside the building. "_By the Force - everyone, someone just detonated a bomb inside the Senate building!_"

Takeshi groaned. "And yet again, someone attacks a peace conference," he muttered. "Typical."

"_That explosion was massive!_" the reporter exclaimed. "_I've never seen anything like it outside of military-grade explosive before!_"

"_Shon to all personnel,_" the _Enterprise_ Captain said over comm lines. "_Transport everyone you can spare to help the security forces quarantine the Senate building: no one not wearing one of our uniforms gets in or out._"

"Understood!" Takeshi replied, as other ship captains did the same thing. "Linda, get two teams together and head planetside! Have Mogire assemble a medic team, too - help treat the injured!"

"Right!" Linda replied, getting up from the secondary Tactical station and running out of the Bridge.

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

"Make sure our teams are armed to the teeth and to set their weapons to level 7." Ron said. "That'll go through Mandalorian body armor without killing the person wearing it. Sonja, Riza, Miss Tano, you're with me: we're going down there to take a look at the crime scene."

Both women stood up, while Ahsoka - now wearing an older version of a Starfleet uniform from the 2360s - was busy putting down PADDs that she was working on while they watched over the ceremony. "Why us?" Ahsoka asked.

"Sonja's good enough to be considered an Enterprise chief engineer, my sister is fairly good at making people stay in one place and you have a greater insight into this galaxy's denizens." Ron answered.

"What about you?"

"My positronic brain might come in handy."

Ahsoka sighed. "Alright… though last time I was involved in solving a bombing mystery, I became a fugitive," she said. "I hope we can avoid that this time."

"You were up here the WHOLE time. Blaming you is illogical."

* * *

**On the surface**

* * *

"Important ceremony gets bombed," Anakin said with a sigh. "Why does this always happen?"

"Because, Anakin, the universe is an imperfect place," Obi-wan muttered, as he and his apprentice arrived at the scene. Shuttles from the ships in orbit swarmed in all over the area surrounding the building, dropping off security personnel in droves.

"Master, I have what sounds like a stupid question," Anakin said.

"Name it."

"Why aren't they just… beaming down?"

Obi-wan was about to speak, before he thought about it for a moment. "That… is something you'll have to ask them," he said.

A shuttle from the Ra-Cailum put down before a team disembarked, led by Ron. Anakin flinched at the sight of Ahsoka wearing one of THEIR uniforms (she said 'it would help her feel like she belonged' when he asked two days ago) but Ron saved them the pain. "What's the situation?"

"At least 50 injuries and four deaths," Obi-wan said. "I don't know why anyone would bomb a neutral conference."

"Guilty by association, Master Jedi," Ron said. "Let's get inside: I've been given the assignment to find out how they bombed the building."

"Right," Obi-wan said, as the group proceeded into the bomb area. "Captain Pinkerton, something I was wondering… why aren't your people just beaming down here? Wouldn't it be a bit less time consuming than using your shuttles?"

"We set up security measures to prevent transporter usage, just in case someone managed to get through BOTH nets," Ron said. "The inhibitors are still active, so no one's beamed out."

"Wait. You not only have the technology to teleport, but you have countermeasures against it?" Anakin asked.

"We don't use them that much." The Jedi just watched as his team walked into the building, wondering how to take the fact that even if they developed transporter technology, the feds had a counter to it.

"They don't mess around, that much is for sure," Anakin said, before they moved to follow them in.

The building itself was untouched, at least on the outside. On the inside, several floors no longer existed. "This had to've been caused by military-grade explosives: a simple thermal detonator wouldn't have done this much damage."

"Ahsoka, we're going to need to branch out a little bit," Ron said. "This might've been caused by a photon grenade set to level 8 or 9." The Togruta froze in place before she shook her head. "You guys take overkill to the extreme." She said.

"I'll take that as a complement." Ron said as he and the others began searching through the crime scene, looking for any indication of where the bomb's point of origin was. "From the Camera feeds, the blast came from over here in this direction."

Sonja pulled out her tricorder, hopping over debris and damaged pods to get as close as she could to the epicenter. Not easy, as it was no longer there to begin with. "Well, I'm picking up traces of antimatter residue consistent with a Starfleet Class-5B photon grenade." SHe said.

"Those haven't been used since the late 23rd Century." Ron said.

"That's not the weird part." Sonja said. "According to the scans, there's also slight traces of a plasma excelerant. the only people to use that are the Romulans, and the Republic discontinued its' use."

"What about that Tal Shiar group you told me about?" Ahsoka commented. "The Republic may not use it, but remnants from the Star Empire and Tal Shiar might still use it… and from what I read in your history documents, this does seem like something they'd do."

"True enough." Ron said, but groaning was heard from up above, and a large section of the floor fifty feet above collapsed.

"THAT was caused by a metal-eating bacteria," Sonja said. "Whoever did this does NOT like the idea of the Khitomer Accords being reactivated."

"Decon procedures, and have Rutia run a high-powered medical scan of the entire building," Ron said. "Whoever was not supposed to be here, I want in my brig until we can straighten-" Another explosion rocked the building's foundations. "Another one? This is getting ridiculous."

* * *

Palpatine, watching from a VERY safe distance, smiled. Hiring those bounty hunters to plant the explosives provided to him by the True Way was easy enough, but getting away with it would take pure genius. "This is a sad day indeed," he said to his fellow senators. "We come here in peace, and whoever began this debacle has blatantly defiled that peace." Several Senators were forced to agree with him as a Klingon _B'rel_-Class raider began landing. On the hull were Mandalorian markings, but the Klingon script still marked the ship as the IKS _B'mak_, which had been given to the Mandalorians only a few days ago. And exiting the ship's boarding ramp was Mand'alore himself, followed closely by his Son.

"The bombing was done too easily," Jordan said to his father, "The Jedi Temple is one thing, but you can't just sneak a bomb into the Senate Building - not with all of the regular guards _and _Jedi around."

"Not without someone on the inside," Aren replied, nodding. "And it was carried out using technology from the other universe… we need to finish our business here, and leave… I doubt we can trust Coruscant anymore."

"This attack was carried out without honor! I expect better from Ferengi!" The livid Chancellor J'mpok and a being that they couldn't identify approached the crowd of politicians.

"Chancellor, are you alright?"

"An attack was laid against us, Palpatine!" J'mpok shouted. "I am not pleased. We will have to finish this on the _Bortasqu_'. At least I will not be killed on my own flagship!" The Klingon's gaze turned to Aren. "Mandalore. Our declaration will have to be held elsewhere: this world is as safe as one of my targs in the mating season!"

"I completely agree," Aren said, nodding. "I think your flagship sounds like a much more appropriate place for this."

J'mpok approached the leading of Mandalore, then pressed the emblem of the Empire attached to his sleeve. "Koren, joi chu!" Both of them vanished in a red shower of light.

"Well, I'll head back to the _Enterprise_ until J'mpok is done," the other being, who turned out to be President Okeg, informed.

"We'll escort you, Mister President," Linda said as she walked up with her team.

"Thank you, Commander," Okeg said. The Saurian followed the team before Jaden's head cocked to one side.

"Wait, that guy's the President of the UFP? Da fuck?"

"Yes, he's the President. If you have a problem with it, there's an ass you can kiss."

* * *

"We had lost our way for many years!" J'mpok announced to the crewmen of the _Bortasqu,_ in a message being sent back to the Klingon Empire back home via the Holonet. "I made the mistake of not honoring our alliance with the Federation, and it cost the Empire dearly in the lives of many warriors. I have corrected that mistake this day, and today, I will introduce to the Empire another ally: Mandalore the Redeemer!" Cheers were heard from the warriors on the Bortasqu' as the armored man made his appearance beside J'mpok.

"Thank you, J'mpok." Aren said nodding, before he turned back towards the cameras. "People of the Klingon Empire, as many of you may or may not know, I am Mand'alor, leader of the Mandalorian people - warriors just like yourselves. My people have waged countless wars across the galaxy for thousands of years since our ancestors, the Taung, first colonized our homeworld, from small planetary wars, to galactic-scale conflicts such as the Great Galactic Wars, the Mandalorian Wars, the New and Old Sith Wars, the Jedi Civil War, and many many more."

"And like you, we have made our fair share of mistakes," he continued. "Many times we were manipulated by our would-be allies - the Sith, with promises of false power and glory. And we have had our downfalls, as for many years the warrior culture of my people was banished when the Republic bombarded my homeworld from orbit, those who still practiced our true culture waging a civil war for control."

"But that, finally, has ended," Aren said. "For after centuries of waiting, the warrior cultures of Mandalore have returned home, and its people more than willing to welcome them home! And most of all, we have learned from all of our past mistakes - and now, as we work with you - the Klingon people… I believe that both of our peoples can become something _glorious,_ as we together represent a force which could easily challenge an army of a million and one men, as each one of our great warriors are equal to _thousands _of the sickly soft children our enemies could _hope _to send out way!"

"_Anyone _who dares attack our worlds - weather it be the Dominion, the Borg, Tal Shiar, the Separatists, the Hutts… _none _shall succeed!" Aren announced. "They may shatter our bodies, but they cannot break our spirits. Those like the CIS would undoubtedly attempt to cease by force what they cannot claim by right… but if they do, they cannot possibly imagine what will await them, as any who attack us shall be _blasted _from the stars! We will _never _bow before them, endure their oppression, endure their tyranny as we strike without warning or mercy, as we shatter their dreams and haunt their nightmares!"

"And as our last breath tears at their lungs, and as we rise again from the ruins of our cities…" Aren said, before he looked directly at the camera. "Mandalore, belongs to the Mandalorian as much as Qo'nos, belongs to the Klingons." And after that last line was said, he was welcomed by a roar of applause, cheer and chants of praise by both Klingons and Mandalorians onboard the ship, as well as seeing the images across Mandalorian and Klingon space as their respective peoples all cheered.

"This marks a new age for the Empire! The war caused by the qa'meH quv is over, and we will be stronger for it! May the enemies of the Empire quake in fear!" The Klingons cheered again, but some were not so cheerful of the war's end. They did not hate the Federation, but they knew the Empire's warriors needed an enemy to fight, or the Empire would dissolve into chaos via in-fighting. They did not know that they would get that enemy sooner than later.

* * *

**Coruscant orbit**

* * *

The _Enterprise_, _Bortasqu'_, and _Lleiset_ broke orbit before jumping into hyperspace, much the the confusion of Ahsoka and several Mandalorians onboard the _Ra-Cailum_, who were getting a tour from the Captain. "Where the hell are they going?" Ahsoka asked.

"Back to our side," Ron said. "There's something happening on New Romulus."

"What's going on at New Romulus?" Amy asked.

"Remember the Iconians we told you about?" Ron asked. "Well, they set up a gateway on New Romulus, and after they abandoned the planet, the locals tried to reactivate it. Killed them off, but the Republic thinks they've fixed the problem and what to try and make it work in their favor. It's a political thing."

"Is that a good idea?" Amy asked. "What happens if they open the gateway, and they let in… I don't know, something _worse _than the Borg I keep hearing about?"

"I know they're still around, but there's not much worse than the Borg other than the Iconians themselves." Ron said. "Take the Dominion: scariest fucking military in the Gamma Quadrant, yet they don't want to go anywhere near the Delta Quadrant. They nearly kicked our asses, but they won't go any closer than a hundred lightyears away from Quadrant Four. Why?"

"The Borg?" Amy asked.

"The Borg." Ron said nodding. "But if Mandalore makes the request, I can… bring you all along. In fact, the President has pretty much demanded it, and what he and the Council wants, they GET. So, kids, what'd'ya say?"

"Well… Mand'alor will want to know what's what on the other side…" Amy said. "But we ain't going over there unless we have a _crapton_ of projectile weapons - Borg Drones can't adapt to them from what we've heard, is that correct?"

"It's how I was freed from them," Ron said, and all of the Mandalorians froze. "Right, NONE of you knew that."

"You were a Borg drone?!" One of the other Mandalorians asked.

"Yes," Ron said with a sigh. "I was a Class-3: heavily modified. Half my brain's a positronic computer. As for projectile weapons, please follow me." Ron stood up, and led them to the turbolift. "Deck 16." the doors closed.

"What kind of projectile weapons does the Federation have anyways?" Amy asked. "I was almost under the impression you used nothing but those phasers."

"In the late sixties, we developed the TR-116 series of rifles, but after the regenerative phaser was developed for use in dampening fields, the weapons was dropped from use," he elaborated. "The new TR-116B is entering limited use, but I prefer something… more well-tested."

"Know how ya feel," Amy said nodding. "I don't trust Prototypes till they've worked out _all _of their kinks. So what do you have though?"

The doors to the lift opened, and Ron led them to a room. Full of gray and black weapons. "Behold, my personal 'go fuck yourself' armory." He grabbed a rifle, which looked more in place as a phaser then a projectile weapon. "This is the Terran heckler and Koch G36. The K model, to be exact. 30 or 100 round magazine, with copper coated tritanium bullets." He tossed the weapon, lacking a magazine, into her waiting hands.

Amy and the Mandalorians let out low whistles "I like… very much..." Amy said, before she observed a rather simple-looking weapon, which almost looked like a weapon mixed with metal and wood. "What's this one?"

"Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947." Ron said, "More commonly known as the AK-47. this thing spawned a massive number of clones and 'children', so to speak: the AK-74N and AK-12 are in here somewhere."

"Question."

"Yes?"

"Why is this on deck 16?" Amy asked. "If this was your personal armory, wouldn't it make more sense for you to have it positioned closer to the bridge, or where your personal quarters are?"

Ron chuckled. "Because this is the same deck as main engineering." He said.

"Uh… that makes no sense."

"It does when I want to make sure what happened to the E doesn't happen to the _Ra-Cailum_." Ron elaborated. "In 2373, the Borg tried to hijack the USS _Enterprise-E,_ and they managed to take over engineering. By doing this, I can make sure my engineering teams can arm themselves _properly _if the Borg tries that shit again."

Amy made an 'ah' motion, understanding the reasoning now. "Makes sense, and pretty wise," she said. "Older Mandalorian ships made sure critical areas like engineering, the bridge and such always had an armory close by in case of boarders… but I doubt back then they'd anticipate people boarding the ship with _transporters._"

"Perhaps I can put you through training exercises during the voyage," Ron said, before the comm beeped.

"_Sickbay to captain._"

"What is it, Ru? Kinda busy."

"_I need you to bring your guests to sickbay for an examination._"

Ron shrugged. "Understood."

Amy rose an eyebrow. "And _why _do we need an examination?" she asked.

"Because my doctor is a health nut: wants to make sure you didn't bring anything on board that will kill us," Ron said. "And I wouldn't try avoiding her: my entire crew is terrified of her for some reason that I fail to understand."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Alright, if it makes her happy so she'll leave us alone," she said. "Come on boys - med bay, let's get this over with."

"She's on Deck 10." The Mandalorians waved him off as they left the armory. "You didn't tell them why the crew is scared of her."

"Because I simply do not understand WHY."

* * *

Commander Rutia Yulanra did not wear the same uniform as the rest of the crew. She wore the 2366-72 medical version with the overcoat. and when the door opened, she smiled sweetly. "Welcome. Because my commander is lax in medical procedure, I thought I'd throw my weight around. Please take a seat."

"This is a waste of-"

"I said. Take. A. Seat."

"I _am, _I am just stating the obvious." Amy said, groaning. "Ever heard of the term Workaholic? You're acting as if we're infected by the Rakghoul Plague."

"Just being thorough." Her smile was sweet, as was her tone, but the Mandalorians felt a great deal of MALICE behind it. '_Who the hell trained this woman, a Sith Lord?_' "We have things far worse then you think. The Omega IV virus, Symbalene bloodburn, nasty stuff. If you want to see it-"

"The Rakghoul plauge transformed any living creature into semi-intelligent zombified mutant creatures that could be taught to use weapons, equipment, starships, and even the Force," Amy said. "I doubt you have anything that could beat that messed up crap."

"Hmm. Semi-intelligent, no, but Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome comes pretty close." She said, "Devolves you into a lifeform from earlier in your planet's history."

Amy sighed. "The things I keep hearing from your Galaxy…" she muttered. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Rutia nodded as she used her tricorder to scan up and down her body a few times. "Looks like you're suffering from a few fractures that never healed properly." She said. "I can fix that, if you want."

Amy groaned. "Should've stayed in Bacta longer after Hypori…" she muttered before she nodded "Yeah, if you could do something about that, it'd be great."

Rutia pulled out a few medical instruments from a table. "Tell me about yourself, Doc," Amy said, trying to strike up a conversation. "How'd you end up here?"

"I graduated from the Academy at the beginning of the year, believe it or not," she said. "You've met the Captain. I'm the one that operated on him after Vega colony. I was skilled enough to serve on the _Enterprise_, although the E-F hadn't been commissioned yet." She removed part of Amy's armor to begin her work. "I was told that I was 'scaring the people I was healing', so I was barred from serving on the Big E. When the boss was given command of the _Ra-Cailum_, he hand-picked me as his CMO."

"Nice…" Amy said with a sigh, "Spent most of my life with my family… either living on Mandalore or on my dad's flagship, training in all of the Mandalorian Arts… taught me how to hunt and everything a Mando needs to know to survive anything from war to just surviving on your own on a deserted planet."

Rutia smirked. "Well, done with the bone fractures. You're clear to go, and just remember… don't piss off your doctors," she said. "We hold your lives in your hands."

"Now you're sounding like my mom…" Amy said with a sigh as she began putting her armor back on.

"Spend five lifetimes as a mother and eight as a father, and it's second nature." Rutia said, causing Amy to blink at that.

"Wait, wha?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm a Trill," she answered. "We're a symbiotic species: host and symbiont. The slug, as some like to call them, live practically forever. I'm the 14th host for Yulanra."

"Oh," Amy said. "Well… that's about the strangest thing I've heard so far about your universe… no offense, of course."

"Well, there's the incident with the space amoeba, the shit Voyager ran into in the Delta Quadrant, and the time Commander Worf jumped from one universe to the next for a few days before thousands of Enterprises showed in the same universe." Rutia listed off.

"...I did _not _need to know that... " Amy deadpanned.

"There's probably shit we haven't seen in your universe that's just as strange," Rutia said. "But Starfleet's charter states one thing: to seek out new life and new civilizations and to boldly go where no one has gone before. So, who wants to go to Ten Forward after their exam?"

"Wouldn't mind," Amy said, shrugging. "Trying to learn more about that chess game… Jaden's taken a liking to it, and he just keeps on _winning_ against anyone he plays."

"Wonderful! Now, hold still: this might sting a bit." She put a hypospray to Amy's neck before injecting something into her body. "Counter to a nasty little virus we have on the other side: your body doesn't have the immunity to it. Don't want you collapsing because of a strain of the flu, do we?"

"The flu?"

"Long story."

Amy sighed. "Either way, thanks," she said as she sat up. "Thanks for everything Ma'am, see ya at Ten Forward… everyone says you're supposed to be scary, but you seem pretty nice to me."

"Well, everyone DOES try to avoid me," she said, shrugging. "I don't know why. Still, the Captain scares me more than anyone. I don't think anyone can survive a shuttle crashing on him and live. Of course, he DOES have a reinforced skeleton."

"Yeah, sounds like it could be _really _helpful," Amy said. "Wouldn't mind having that myself… but I get the feeling that was another thing he got from the Borg, so I'd rather say no to that."

"I'm the one that operated on him, so I'd know," Rutia said with a sigh. "At least 65% of that shit is STILL inside his body. If I try to remove it, he dies. I try to disable it, he dies slowly. At least the Borg can't hijack his body. Problem is, he can hear them."

"Maybe someday in the future we can find a way to get it out of him without killing him…" Amy said. "He seems like a great Captain… as useful as some of those Borg enhancements might be, it may be best if he _didn't _have them… I know my father has zero interest in reverse-engineering Borg tech after seeing Federation reports."

"Well, I CAN'T remove any of them. Half of his brain is just gone, several of his organs are the same way… the Borg upped their game at making sure a victim couldn't survive outside the Collective. Still, it's more of an advantage than anything: there's nothing he can't break into, given time. Now, why don't we get to ten Forward: my shift's about to end."

* * *

**Meanwhile - Coruscant**

**Bombing Site**

* * *

"Alright, so far what have we learned?" Obi-wan asked, as he and anyone else investigating the bombing was present near the blast site.

"Well, we've learned that the Starfleet scanning technology makes ours look like looking with our eyes." One of the Clone said, "They found scraps of DNA on a piece of debris, but they don't have access to the Republic's medical database, so they handed it over to us so we can ID the species and narrow it down from there."

"Have we had any luck there yet?" Obi-wan asked.

"The sample is at the labs now," the clone said. "It'll take them some time, but we should have it in a few hours if we're lucky sir."

Anakin sighed. "If we had one of those fancy Starfleet computers, it wouldn't take that long," he said. "I mean, it took them seconds to calculate a hyperspace route to Coruscant from Naboo."

"Since their prime directive is in effect, they can't," Obi-wan said. "But that's not our problem now, right now we need to worry about _this._"

"I know master, but that doesn't mean that I don't wish we had one of their computers to make the job go faster so we can catch whoever did this." Anakin retorted.

"I know, Anakin, but keep your mind in the here and now." Obi-wan said. "What else do we know?"

"Captain Pinkerton said that the explosives used had a metal-eating bacteria, and they believe the explosive device is related to a Class-5B photon grenade from the 23rd century modified with plasma accelerant," one of the Starfleet investigators said. "This may suggest a Romulan Tal Shiar involvement, since the Romulans are the only ones that we know who use that."

"The question is, how did they get it through the blockade you have in orbit?" Anakin asked. "A cloaked ship would've been seen."

Obi-wan facepalmed. "Unless they didn't need to," he muttered. "We had a number of transports go through that rift in the last week: they could have stuck the parts for the bomb here for days."

"But how could they've hid it…" Anakin said. "It had to have been a non-Republic race from their side, the technology in that bomb wasn't from ours that's for sure."

"Uhh…" both Jedi looked at the Starfleet officer. "A cloaking device."

"What?"

"A personal cloaking device, Master Jedi: not very safe, but undetectable as it's too weak to be detected by a tachyon detection grid, plus the person carrying it would need to be cloaked. Problem is, not even the Tal Shiar use those. Only one group does."

"Who?"

"The True Way. They're a Cardassian extremist group that want to restore the old ways of the Cardassian Union - the days of a military police state. And they do it by causing chaos, attacking in areas where they hope to destabilize and topple Cardassia's current government."

"Could it be possible the True Way could be working with Tal Shiar?" Obi-Wan asked.

"They DID work with the Obsidian Order - the old Union's counterpart to the Tal Shiar - to try and destroy the founder's homeworld, so it's possible," the officer said.

"Well, it's a lead, at least," Obi-wan said. "But we have to make absolute certain that this is what's going on… we can't do much else until we get the DNA scan finished."

"_Pinkerton to all ground teams: the _Ra-Cailum _is breaking orbit in fifteen minutes. Board your shuttlecraft: I need you up here._"

"Well, you guys are on your own for now," The officer said, as he proceeded towards the closest shuttlecraft.

The two Jedi sighed. "Excuse me, gentlemen." Both turned to face a being like Captain Shon - an Andorian, they realized before mentally slapping themselves - that approached. "I think I can help you with your search."

"I don't believe we've met before, miss…?" Obi-wan asked the Andorian woman.

"Ange Ha'ran of the USS _Heisenberg_, one of the Nebula-Class ships in orbit." She said, "If you can give my ship an uplink to the database, I can find out the ID of your bomber a LOT faster."

Obi-wan rose an eyebrow, but nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me," he said. "I'll send word to the temple to get an uplink ready."

"Miss… I have a question." Anakin asked.

"Yes?"

"Your name. It's human. At least the first one."

"It's French for 'angel'. My parents, adopted, are human. I'm a war orphan."

"Ah… my apologies," Anakin said, but Ange shrugged.

"Nothing I can do to change that," she said. "Just glad I had a good family that took me in."

"You're a bit old for an orphan."

"Not this war." Ange said shakign her head. "It was 40 years ago. My parents died during the Dominion War, at the Second Battle of Chin'toka. They served on the _Defiant_. Still, I wish they were still around. I never knew them. I'll have us beamed up to my ship so we can begin the search, if you don't have any objections."

"None at all." Obi-wan said nodding, "Ready whenever you are, ma'am."

She tapped her modern commbadge. "Ha'ran to _Heisenberg_: lock onto my signal and energize." "Yes, ma'am." The three disappeared in columns of light, which was something the Jedi were NEVER going to get used to.

"I HATE it when that happens."

"A lot of people do," Ange said with a small smirk. "Please follow me."

* * *

**Meanwhile - At New Romulus**

* * *

The _Enterprise_, _Ra-Cailum,_ _Bortasqu'_, and _Lleiset_ had finally arrived at New Romulus, where they prepared for the Romulan science team to prepare the activation of the Iconian gateway.

The guest of honor was, rather fittingly, a Klingon: Worf, son of Mogh, the only person to encounter (and destroy) two Iconian gateways. Of course, that was what the Mandalorians were told by Ron, who was going down there with them. "So, anything you want to know?" Ron asked.

"How do the gateways work?" Ahsoka asked.

"We honestly don't know." He said. "We think they're like transporters on steroids, but we've never had the chance to find out." The group entered one of the _Ra-Cailum_'s transporter rooms, and stepped onto the pad.

"Why's that?" Ahsoka asked. "Is Iconian tech _that _advanced?"

"That dangerous," Ron said. "The first time, on Iconia, Picard destroyed the only remaining structure on the planet, as well as the gateway inside. The second time, Captain Sisko destroyed the gateway on Vandros IV, preventing a group of Jem'hadar from using it to invade just about anywhere in the known universe. It's a LONG story."

The team were beamed down into the caverns that held the gateway, which were… barely a few dozen meters above superheated molten rock.

"Whoa!" Ahsoka shouted in surprise. "Who in their right mind would put somethig like a gateway _here _of all places?!"

"Geothermal power," Ron said. "At least the romulans fixed the problem of not killing everything by causing a volcanic winter." Ron began walking down the walkways, seemingly ignoring the fact that they were above lava, of all things. A turn and a short walk up a set of stairs later, they entered the main chamber, where they saw a Klingon wearing a white fur uniform and a baldrige. "Worf, son of Mogh, I presume?"

"Yes, and you must be Captain Pinkerton," Worf said, nodding. "Welcome to New Romulus."

"These are Ahsoka Tano, Amy Takeo, and the rest of the Mandalorian delegation," Ron said. "I know you're just as doubtful of this gateway as I am."

"I have served under two of the most honorable officers Starfleet has ever produced." Worf said, "Both elected to destroy the gateways."

A Romulan man shook his head. "I want more time to study this thing, too, gentlemen, but we're on a deadline," he said. "Maybe you can check in with the scientists?"

Ron nodded. "Alright, Admiral," he said. "Ambassador, please join me. Ahsoka… keep our friends out of trouble."

The Mandalorians felt insulted, but considering their lack of knowledge, he was trying to keep them from getting themselves (and by proxy, everyone else) from getting killed.

"Feel like you're not supposed to be here?" Ahsoka faced the Romulan. "Admiral Kererek, Romulan Republic Militia. This is a mission for eggheads and people who know what they're doing, not… men like me."

"Men like you?" Ahsoka asked.

"I'm purely military: I was once a member of the Imperial Navy, but after the Tal Shiar began their reign of terror, I defected to the Republic," he said. "It feels… better serving here, but I'm an Admiral - not a scientist."

"Well… let's just hope this doesn't go horribly wrong," Ahsoka said. "After what Ron told me, the last thing we need is what happened last time to happen again… "

"Well, the FIRST time, the USS _Yamato_ was destroyed by a computer virus," Kererek said. The sound of machinery was heard as the gate's pylons rose. "Looks like we're getting started."

The CO of the _Ra-Cailum_ had a devious smile on his face as he planted demolition charges on the pylons. "What are you-" The Admiral thought about it for a second, as did Ahsoka. "Ah. Good idea."

"I come up with them occasionally." Ron said.

The Pylons continued to rise, and a few moments later the gate successfully activated… and almost immediately afterwards massive tremors began shaking the whole cavern. "What's going on?!" Ahsoka shouted.

"We've got a spike!" One of the scientists shouted, as Ron facepalmed before activating the charges… which did nothing.

"What the hell is that thing MADE of?!" Ahsoka shouted.

"Neutronium, maybe?!" Ron shouted. "GTFO!" Some of the Romulans managed to get out of the chamber, but the way was blocked for the rest of the group.

"Great! Where do we go now?!" Amy shouted.

Ron looked at the gateway. "Oh, HELL no."

Worf gestured to run into the gate. "Into the gateway, now!"

"RUN LIKE YOUR ASS IS ON FIRE!" The magma began to churn and erupt. "WHICH IT WILL BE IN A SECOND!"

"GOGOGOGOGO!" Amy shouted as she and the Mandalorians ran towards the gate, as they jumped in, soon followed by Worf, Shon, Ron and Ahsoka and the others.

* * *

"We can't just leave them in there!"

"Koren's a Klingon, Shon's captain of the enterprise and Pinkerton knows what he's doing, Commander! We need to worry about our planet!"

Jarok scowled, as Kererek had a point. New Romulus was being plagued by earthquakes. "Admiral, the _Ra-cailum_ is breaking orbit. No reason given."

"Where are they going?" Kererek asked, as they saw the _Ra Cailum_ move out.

"Unknown. They said something about a deep subspace transmission."

"Ignore the _Ra-Cailum_: we have bigger things to worry about!"

* * *

**Unknown location**

* * *

"I KNEW that gateway would be trouble!"

"We KNOW, Ambassador. Ahsoka, how are the others?"

"Fine," Ahsoka said. "Nothing major or anything… but where are we?"

The Captain sighed. "Subspace," he said. "DEEP in subspace: I can see tetryon particles all over the place. I'll see to the wounded: try to get that door over there open while I do that."

Ahsoka nodded as she approached the door of the strange dark room they found themselves in.

"Not what I expected subspace to look like…" Amy said. "We could be on some kind of station or ship…"

"We are. This place feels familiar." Ahsoka tried to touch the force, and winced. This place was tainted with ill-intent: like the Sith made themselves at home. Still, she could use it. She forced the door open, and looked back. "Ambassador? Captain?"

"Scout ahead, Ahsoka. We'll be there shortly."

"I'll go with her," Amy said. "We have no idea what to expect here, she could use help if this place has…less than friendly residents."

"Catch." Amy caught a modified phaser rifle from Ron. The sights were modified with what seemed to be a camera. "So I can keep an eye out. It's connected to my artificial eye."

Amy nodded. "Right, see ya soon hopefully," she said as she and Ahsoka ventured beyond the door.

"This place is creepy." Ahsoka muttered, as the two moved through the hallways. "It's worse than Geonosis."

"Geonosis got nothing on on Odacer-Faustin..." Amy muttered, drawing a raised eyebrow from Ahsoka.

"What's Odacer-Faustin?" She asked.

"Trust me - you _don't _want to know," Amy said with a slight shiver.

The arrived at another chamber, which had three different doors. "Captain, can you see this?" Ahsoka asked.

"_Yes, I can. As soon as the wounded are patched up, we'll go over to investigate._"

"Understood, sir," Ahsoka said, before she chuckled. "You know, this is a LOT better than being a Jedi."

"I can bet," Amy said with a small smirk, "Starfleet's got rules, but they sure as hell ain't as bad as the Jedi's. They haven't changed those rules for what, thousands of years? I think it's well overdue on a revision or two."

"Actually, they reformed them a thousand years ago to prevent the rise of the Sith again." Ahsoka said before she sighed, "But you're right: it's LONG overdue for a change. I think they could take a few lessons from the Vulcans and from the Federation about control, but not pure suppression."

"Meh, maybe… though I have a feeling even Vulcans have a point that they _have _to let it all out," Amy said. "Just balling up all of those emotions inside you can't be healthy. If anything, things like love have saved people from going evil. Remember the story of Bastila and Revan? She damn near fell to the dark side, but her love for Revan prevented that."

"Point, but-"

"_Miss Tano, Miss Takeo, if you two get into an argument over the Force, I swear, I will shut you both up by remote._"

"Just turn off the radio so you don't have to listen," Amy said.

"_I CAN'T,_" Ron retorted. "_That commbadge Ahsoka's wearing is programmed to stay on in case of an emergency. What do you see?_"

"A lot of doors," Amy said. "What, you can't see them yourself? I'm pointing that camera of yours right at 'em."

"_Bit focused at fixing someone's arm. We'll be there shortly. We'll need to split up and check the area out, find a way out_."

"Copy that, we'll wait for ya." Amy said.

"Be there in a minute."

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

"Ma'am, why are we heading for the Jouret system?" Corpsa asked. "There's nothing there."

"My brother always said the borg detected something in that system," Riza said, "The colony was just a bonus for them."

"Alright, but why are we going there, when the Captain was _just at _New Romulus?" The Andorian asked. "Shouldn't we be focusing on that?"

"He told me to go there if anything involving an Iconian gateway happened to him," Riza said. "His orders stand."

Static was heard over the comm before they heard a voice. "_This is Ra-Cailum actual to any Federation starship: please respond. We're trapped in subspace and have wounded. We've also run into those solanagin-based assholes from the 2360s._"

"Huh… well waddaya know..." Corpsa muttered.

"Nii-san, this is the _Ra-Cailum,_" Riza said. "We're heading for the Jouret System as we speak."

"_Understood. We - Uh-oh. I think we just reset the gateway network. Gotta go, imoto!_"

"We're on our way! Hang on!" Riza said, as she accelerated the _Ra Cailum_ to get there faster.

* * *

**Subspace**

* * *

"I get separated from you for fifteen minutes and THIS happens!" One of the Romulans was dead: his blood had been replaced with a liquid polymer, and if Ron was any slower, Amy would've suffered the same fate. If anything, he was thankful for the Borg technology in his body: it allowed him to shut down most of her body while using a recycler (Ron's nickname for the device that allowed the borg to survive in the vacuum of space while using their organic brains) to keep her brain oxygenated. She was, however, comatose, and would require the Ra-Cailum's sickbay to fully recover.

"What the _fuck _was that!" Ahsoka shouted after what just happened.

"Those things were solanogen-based lifeforms." Ron said. "Back in '68, the _Enterprise_-D ran into them during a survey. They dragged them into a pocket of subspace and… experimented on them. A number of them could've been lethal, like what happened to Maiak and to Miss Takeo." Ron froze for a few seconds.

"Ron?" Ahsoka asked, seeing him suddenly stop in place. "Are you alright?"

"I can hear them," Ron muttered. "The Collective is calling to me. Damn it, I hate being in subspace: makes me easier to track for the Borg. We need to go, before they realize what's happening." Ron marched towards a hatch, opening it to reveal a massive expanse of platforms in the darkness.

"Well… that's freaking creepy…" Ahsoka muttered.

"The gateway signature is somewhere across this expanse," Worf said. "We'll have to find a way across."

Ahsoka looked at the edge of the platform they seemed to be on before seeing a lip, as if something came out. "Captain, could you activate that console?" Ron, after checking on Amy, looked at the console that was floating in midair before beginning to work on it. "You seem to know what you're doing."

"That's the Borg knowledge in my-" A curved bridge extended from the slit, connecting with another platform.

"I'll scout ahead," Ahsoka said, "Once I make sure the way is clear, bring the others across." She crossed the bridge, however as she did so however, suddenly the shroud of darkness around the expanse suddenly changed, as before her appeared a planet.

"What the…" She accessed the console, revealing the identity of the world: the capital of the United Federation of Planets, Earth.

"The Sol System!" Worf shouted in surprise.

"They can get to the Federation's capital - of course they can: the gateways go EVERYWHERE, from what I've heard," Ron said.

Ahsoka continued forward, as she activated one of the two holographic displays on either side of her, choosing the left one which extended another walkway. At the same time she did that though, the space surrounding her shifted once more to a different planet, looking much different than earth.

"Kronos…" Worf muttered. "It's… it's a live image of my world!"

The Iconians were watching both capitals. Ahsoka was not liking this at all as she activated another panel, leading them up to another platform. This time, New Romulus appeared. "The quakes are getting worse. We have to try and stop them!"

They continued their way across the walkways Ahsoka summoned, as they came across yet another planet, one which Worf claimed he knew.

"Vandros IV… I know this world. We went there to destroy an Iconian gateway shortly before the Dominion War."

'_The second time_', Ahsoka quickly realized.

Once again they came across another platform, and yet another world "This… is from the Delta Quadrant!" Worf said. "Does the Iconian influence stretched out that far?"

the next platform showed a world that was dead. "I know THIS planet."

Ahsoka gave him a questioning look. "And?"

"This is Iconia."

Ahsoka saw there was only one platform left before what appeared to be the end, as they journeyed across another walkway. However upon standing on it, yet another planet appeared… this one Ahsoka recognizing immediately with wide eyes.

"Coruscant!" She shouted. "That's impossible!"

"We have heard from Taris' statements that Iconian gates go across time and space," Worf remarked. "Perhaps other universes are not so far a stretch."

Ahsoka realized quickly that there WAS an empire before the Rakata: the Iconians were in her universe at one point or another!

"Come on, we need to keep moving," Worf said, as Ahsoka nodded before they moved towards another platform. "This appears to be some kind of master control panel," the Klingon said as he approached the station on the last platform. "I believe we can use it to open the gateway."

A pair of drones came up from below, firing at the two. Ahsoka didn't want to use her phaser (while her place was now on the Enterprise, using a lightsaber felt more natural) so she activated her shoto, leaping into the air before landing on one of the drones and stabbing the living hell out of it before hacking it in half, sending it into the abyss. She proceeded to jump onto the second one, and repeated the same process before she landed back on the platform.

"We need to download the data and move everyone here before more Guardians arrive!" Worf said, as he sent the signal for the others to arrive. "I can remodulate the power system while you reroute the flow. "

Ahsoka had no idea what she was doing, so she attempted to do as Worf asked. "Right… reroute the flow."

"It is quite simple. Match the colors to those displayed."

"The most advanced race that both our universes know… and they use pretty pictures for grammar." She muttered as she began pressing the buttons in the order they flashed, displaying a map of the Milky way as the others arrived. "That's a star chart!" Koren shouted. "Are all those symbols Iconian gateways?"

"There's the New Romulus gateway!" One of the Romulans pointed out.

Ahsoka continued pressing symbols until the New Romulus gateway gained a white marker. "The New Romulus gate was reset!"

Shon pointed out the… massive problem, as first another, then another, then almost every other gateway on the map gained a white marker. "It wasn't the only one."

"Ambassador, we'll cover you as you download the data!" Shon continued, but after he said that the skies around them began to turn Red.

"The paths are retracting!" Ahsoka began pressing buttons.

"They know we're here, and I don't think they're happy."

Thousands of swarmers began to appear out of the darkness. "Ambassador, we need to go, NOW!"

"Miss Tano, activate the gateway and get us the fuck out!"

"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" Ahsoka shouted, as she followed Worf's instructions as she activated the gateway.

The gate activated, and the survivors, plus Amy who was carried out by Ron, ran right through. They didn't end up where they expected. Instead, it appeared they ended up in a command center. "This has to be a bridge." Koren said.

"We have walking wounded, but we can still serve," Worf said. "Captain, if you can figure out what those consoles are for-"

The former drone put Amy on the deck before making an examination of the controls. "Helm, sciences, engineering, and tactical, in that order," Ron said, pointing at the consols. "Ambassador, I can think of no one better for the latter."

Worf nodded. "Very well, Captain," he said as he manned the tactical station.

Shon went for the helm station while Koren eagerly went for the engineering console. A'dranna shook her head. "No. I'm a researcher, not a bridge officer!"

"You're the only one qualified!" Ron said, pointing his thumb towards the science station. "Take the post!"

A'dranna looked like she wanted to argue more, before she sighed as she approached the science station.

"We have saved New Romulus… but the Gateways are open now… _all _of them," Worf said. "We don't know who could use them, it may be the Elachi, or it may be something far worse. We must warn _everyone _of what is coming."

"Shon, get the engines on this bucket online! We need to go!"

"We're in subspace, Pinkerton: there's nowhere we CAN go!"

Ron smirked. "Yes, there is. Doc, you have control of the Iconian gateways. Activate one and get us home!"

* * *

**Jouret system**

* * *

The _Ra-cailum_ dropped out of warp, entering the system at full impulse power. "Anything?"

"I'm picking something up near Jouret IV, Lieutenant: energy signature confirmed to be that of an Iconian gate," Corpsa reported. "I'm also picking up a ship in orbit, as well as a massive Elachi fleet inbound."

"Hail that ship," Riza said. "Unidentified ship, this is the USS _Ra-Cailum_. Nii-san, is that you?"

"_You know it is. Any word on reinforcements?_"

"The rest of the fleet should be here soon," she said. "Where'd that thing come from?"

"_No idea, but I LIKE it._"

Alarms began going off. "Sir, the Elachi are closing in! It'll take another ten minutes for the heavier ships to get here!" And another five for the _Ra-Cailum_, as the system had too many planets to simply go to warp. "You're on your own for now, but we're incoming!"

"_Figured as much. Time to dance!_"

* * *

The bulky ship began moving, and Ahsoka was trying to make sense of the console she was working with.

"You doing alright there, Ahsoka?" Ron asked.

"Fine, fine," Ahsoka muttered. "These aren't controls I'm fully familiar with, it's not like the ones on the _Enterprise _or _Ra-Cailum,_ but there are similarities."

She pressed several keys, and the sound of something being ejected was heard. "Whoops." Twelve contacts appeared on sensors, close to the ship. "I think this thing's a massive carrier!"

"Elachi ships closing in! We must hold them off!"

"Ahsoka, use those drones and take out the closest enemy target!"

"R-right!" Ahsoka said as she fiddled with the controls again, before she finally found the controls for the Drones as they formed up and proceeded to approach the incoming Elachi fleet.

The swarm of craft began to attack a S'gloth escort, their antiproton beams hacking into the shields before using something like transphasic torpedoes to punch through the hull before diving in themselves, doing more damage from within and causing it to explode.

"Oh… wow…" Ahsoka said, blinking. "Alright, I'm starting to _like _this ship..."

"Three ships, allied, incoming!" A Miranda-Class frigate, a T'varo warbird and a B'rel entered orbit, firing at the Elachi ships, forcing them to break off. "More Elachi inbound! Defend yourselves!"

"_This is the Mandalorian Bird-of-Prey _Jai'galaar." The voice of Jaden Takeo came through on the comm. "_Sorry we're a bit late, more reinforcements will be here soon! To battle!_"

Dozens of Elachi began to open fire on the fleet, and while the carrier was doing damage, it was not enough to save the Romulan ship as the singularity drive overloaded and imploded the warbird. The Miranda was just as unlucky as it rammed an escort, taking it with them.

The _Jai'galaar_, however was doing a bit better, for a _B'rel _at least. It was taking a fair share of hits, but the crew was able to expertly avoid being hit by the majority of the Elachi weapons, as it focused mostly on the smaller craft, as it gunned down a trio of Qulash Frigates easily enough, leaving the larger heavier tonnage vessels such as S'gloth and Monbosh for Ron and his ship. Jaden was brave, but he wasn't stupid enough to have a upgraded _B'rel _go up against ships easily three to four times its size, armor, shields and weapons.

"_This is the Romulan warbird _Lleiset_! Where did that gateway come from?!_"

"Subspace, toots! And we just saved your homeworld, so don't complain!"

The Lleiset decloaked, beginning an assault against the Elachi warships.

"The Bortasqu has arrived!" The massive dreadnought gunned down a S'gloth, joining the fight for the gateway.

"Ahsoka, get those drones out there and get the Elachi off that raider!"

"Done!" Ahsoka said, as she sent new orders to the drone fighters, as they moved to support the _Jaigalaar_ which was being chased by several Frigates. The fighters giving the Mando vessel the help it needed as the _B'rel _and the fighters turned around and tore the persuing Frigates to pieces.

"_Thanks for the hand! These Elachi are some persistent fucks!_" Jaden said.

An Elachi battleship got onto the carrier's tail, but the battleship was forced off the carrier's ass by the arrival of the _Enterprise_. And into the combined fire of the other flagships. "The gateway is secure!"

Ron stood up from his chair. "We need to talk about what to do with this thing," he said, indicating the Iconian Gateway.

"We should destroy the gateway now, while we still have the chance," Shon said.

"No! This gateway is in Romulan space and belongs to our people!" shouted A'dranna. "It's no different from the wormhole near Bajor!"

"I'd say it's plenty-" Shon began to say before the argument was halted by a hail from the Enterprise. "Enterprise _to Shon: we've been scanning the gateway, but the computers have locked out and the monitors are all showing an Omega! We need you back here, sir._"

Shon sighed. "I see," he said glancing at Ron "That changes things significantly."

"Indeed it does," Koren said. "I will return to the _Bortasqu,_ Worf we'll be waiting for you."

"What are they talking about?"

"It's above your clearance, Ahsoka. We'll get back to the _Ra-Cailum:_ this ship will be handed over to whatever joint command they set up."

"You fought with honor, Captain. I hope we see one another again."

"Q'apla, Worf. _Ra-Cailum_, two to beam back." Ahsoka and Ron disappeared from the bridge of the alien carrier, followed shortly by the others.

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_

* * *

Takeshi looked over the report he'd gotten after the 'Gateway Incident' as it was coming to be known. "So, they found a new Iconian Gateway in the Jouret System? Large enough for fleets of ships?"

"And something about an Omega Directive," Rina confirmed. "We have no IDEA what that means." Takeshi did. But he couldn't tell them.

"What about those new fighters that were supposed to be delivered to the _Enterprise_?" Takeshi asked. "I'd have requested one for this ship, but the shuttlebay we have is just too small, and we'd need to get rid of the _Cyclone_, so that's not gonna happen."

"Well, all of the fighters are Eta-2-Class, so we can fit one on board," his chief engineer, Matthew "Matt" Williams, replied. "There's also talk of Naboo handing over a few of those N1s they have for testing and retrofits."

"Point taken on the size, Matt, but we'd still need to get rid of the _Cyclone_ to make room," Takeshi informed. "And as much as I'd like to have a starfighter aboard, when it comes to single-seat versus a Type-10 Shuttle with a carrying capacity of ten people packed as tightly as comfortable, we need the Type-10 for when we can't use Transporters."

The _Raging Tempest_ was on glorified guard duty over Coruscant, with little to guard. The boredom was mindnumbing.

"This is completely ridiculous," Takeshi groaned after a moment. "Aside from the continuing investigation of that bombing, nothing has really happened that really warrants our presence! We could easily have our place taken by another ship, even a science vessel - which could at least pass the time studying the planet below - which would let us go back to our universe to deal with Breen, True Way, or the Elachi."

"We KNOW, sir, but-"

"Raging Tempest_, this is the _Heisenburg_: We're going to need you down on the surface. The Jedi order's requested a major upgrade of their security, and we KNOW how easily bored you get._" A comment of 'go run on hot coals' was barely heard.

"Understood," Takeshi replied. "Linda, you're with me. Brok'tan, you have the Bridge."

The Klingon nodded as the two left the bridge, heading for the shuttlebay. They knew one thing: all the important places (anything governmental) now had transporter inhibitors, so they'd need to get down there by shuttle.

* * *

**Jedi Temple**

* * *

"If Starfleet can't help us in the war effort, why are they helping us upgrade our security?" Mace Windu asked.

"Because we, apparently, have poor security," Ki-adi-mundi said, as he and the Masters watched Starfleet personnel working on adding new security measures to the temple, in order to prevent _another _temple bombing like the one a few weeks ago.

"Multi-regenerative forcefields, multiple redundant power generators, sensor jammers - what do they think is going to try and break out?" Master Secura asked, "A rancor?! I don't even understand what half of this equipment IS!"

"I won't complain, if it keeps the temple safe," Kit Fisto said, shrugging. "After the bombing, we need to make sure that doesn't happen again. It was just too easy that Barriss found a way to sneak Jakar in here with Nano Droids in his system."

"Speaking of Bariss, do you think we should have her transferred to one of the ships in orbit?" Plo Koon asked. "Breaking out of a Starfleet brig is apparently rather… difficult."

Mace shook his head. They had no idea WHY Bariss suddenly went mad doing that. She had to have known that they only took on the role of generals because they wanted to end this conflict quickly instead of letting it drag on, and that they would return to their roles as peacekeepers the moment the conflict ended. "No." He said. "Unless it's necessary, she will remain in her cell."

At that moment however, power began to fluctuate as lights began to flicker, followed by what sounded like a short explosion from below, and followed by a shout of 'Goddamnit!'

"What happened?!"

A human man wearing a Starfleet uniform (yellow, meaning he was an engineer) shook his head. "The generators powering almost everything in the temple overloaded. We're trying to get them back online-"

"_Security team to all personnel! One of the prisoners is - GAH!_" A SNAP was heard over the comm, followed by the sounds of phaser fire.

Yoda's eyes narrowed "Attempting to escape, Barriss is," he said. "Stop her, we must."

* * *

Two officers (wearing the granddaddy of all Starfleet uniforms) fired away at the escapee, who either dodged the beams from their type-2 phasers or just wasn't affected by them. "Schmitt to all teams: target is immune to stun setting!"

"Set them higher, then!" Schmitt reset the phaser he was using to setting four, which was enough to put down a rampaging Klingon before firing at Bariss. The beam made contact, but again, didn't do a damn thing.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Schmitt shouted, before Barriss used the force to push him into a wall as she made her way towards the exit.

"What the _hell _is she made out of?!" Another guard shouted, as they tried to shoot her, but to no avail.

The Miraluka closed in, then used her strength to snap the man's neck. She needed her lightsabers back. They were in the way.

* * *

"_We hit the bitch with phasers on setting four! They didn't do a damn thing!_"

Mace shook his head in shock. Anakin had volunteered to see what would happen if a Jedi had been hit with a phaser blast three days ago, and setting four knocked him out for twenty minutes! Barriss should be unconscious! "Master Plo, try and contain her. We cannot let her escape the temple." A type-10 shuttlecraft made its' approach to the temple entrance, whom Mace planned to greet and hope they had an answer to this… problem.

The shuttle set down at the entrance, and Takeshi and Linda stepped out of the shuttle. "Master Windu," Takeshi said, bowing slightly.

"Captain Yamato," Mace replied. "I wish your first trip to the Jedi temple was under less… troubling circumstances."

"What's the situation?" Takeshi asked, not having heard anything on his way down.

"Our power generators failed. A… troubled member of our order who has been imprisoned for some time has escaped. She has killed five of your people already, and your weapons seem to be having limited effect on her."

Takeshi frowned. "That… that doesn't sound good," he said after a moment. "Hopefully we'll be able to take her down." He drew the Katana he carried on his belt. "Might give me a chance to test out this new sword from Ron."

"Captain, you must exercise caution. Barriss Offee is a highly skilled combatant, and you do not have the force to aid you-"

"The weapon my husband is carrying is made of tritanium, Master Windu," Linda informed. "Ahsoka was kind enough to test it with one of her lightsabers. It survived."

"Not to mention Ron seems to be one of the few people able to craft blades to a monomolecular edge," Takeshi added. "Might not be able to slice through Neutronium, but I'd imagine it can cut through anything else."

Mace flinched. Tritanium was lightsaber-proof. If they could make Force-sensitives out of normal people, the Jedi would be finished. "Very well, captain, then I and Master Luminara will join you."

"I appreciate the help," Takeshi replied. "Linda, I want you to hang back, and whenever we make contact, find a place where you can use that TR-116 of yours to give us Sniper support."

"Understood," Linda informed. "Be careful."

Takeshi nodded.

* * *

Barris continued to run through the temple, making her way outside to finally escape this accursed place. She was doing her best to avoid killing anyone, having managed to take one of the Federation soldiers phasers which appeared to be on stun. The last thing she wanted to do was piss these Federation forces off even more, having already heard stories about them from the guards.

A snap-hiss caught her attention as two Jedi, both human, entered the corridor she was in. "Stand down, youngling, and you will not be harmed." Barriss scowled before firing the phaser at one of the Jedi preventing her escape, the beam connecting with his chest and knocking him down. She attempted the same with the second, but the lightsaber managed to deflect part of the beam. It would not last, as the phaser eventually phased through the blade of the lightsaber, knocking the second Jedi out.

'Huh, I have a whole new love for these things.' Barris thought before she continued her escape.

* * *

"_She's armed! Repeat, the escapee is armed! She's got a phaser!_"

Takeshi swore. "Oh, just great," he remarked. "This just got a lot more complicated."

"Indeed. Our lightsabers won't stop a phaser beam."

"And the only guy in Starfleet that's immune to them is busy at New Romulus."

"Immune?"

Takeshi sighed. "Ron," he explained. "He may be a _**former**_ Borg Drone, but he still has a lot of the technology they put in his body. One thing that makes the Borg so dangerous is their ability to adapt: If you fire a weapon at a drone enough times, or enough drones, the Borg will adapt to the frequency of that weapon, and become invulnerable to it. Despite no longer being linked to the Collective, Ron still has that ability."

"Keep track of her!" Mace shouted into the comm. "Do not let her leave the temple, if she get into the city, we'll lose her!"

Finding Barriss would be difficult, even with the sensor technology Starfleet had at its' disposal. "How many of those forcefields do you have in place?" Takeshi asked.

"The nodes were all installed: we just need to hook in the new fusion reactors." Mace said. "Why?"

"Hook up the reactor and activate them!" Takeshi said. "If we activate them, we'll keep her from escaping and trap her!"

The engineering crews didn't bother waiting for permission. "Reactors'll be engaged in a minute or two! Just hope the security teams can hold her off."

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_ **\- en route back to Coruscant**

* * *

Ron was NOT looking forward to this. Amy was STILL undergoing treatment for having the blood in her body replaced with a liquid polymer, and his predictions of how pleased Mandalore and his son (who was on board) were NOT pleasant. Surprisingly enough though, rather than Jaden trying to lash out at him…

"Wait… you're _thanking _me?!" Ron asked surprised, as he and Jaden sat in Ron's office of the _Ra-Cailum._

"I admit I was pretty damn pissed at first, but if it wasn't for you Amy would probably be dead by now," Jaden said, nodding. "I owe you a _big _one for that. Don't worry, my dad will understand."

"Huh… okay then," Ron said. "Well that's good… I expected he would've been more… angry."

"Bah, he'll throw a fit maybe, but in the end he'll come to the same conclusion I have," Jaden said. "He knows how to reign in his emotions in situations like this - he used to be a Jedi, afterall."

"He was a Jedi?" Ron asked with a bit of surprise.

"Yeah, raised in the Temple," Jaden said. "Though a few years after he became an official padawan learner, his master got killed by a Dark Jedi. That prick tried to get my dad to fall to the dark side, but a band of Mando mercs saved his ass - one of those mercs would eventually become my mom. Dad fell in love with her, and because of that he was forced to leave the order."

"Forced?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean 'forced'?"

Jaden blinked. "Wait, no one told you?" he asked. "Jedi aren't allowed to have families, own property, marry… hell, they're not allowed to show or have love with anyone in or outside the order. Jedi who are caught in relationships are either forced to end them, or be exiled from the order. They think emotions lead 'to the dark side'… bullshit if I do say so myself."

"Rather extreme." Ron said. "Even the Vulcans don't pull the restraint card THAT badly. But if they can't marry, how do they recruit? volunteers?"

"Brace yourself, 'cause you're gonna hate this," Jaden said with a sigh. "They… find force-sensitive children across the galaxy, and bring them to the temple… the Jedi don't see Adults as fit for jedi training, too volatile, too susceptible to the dark side of the force - hell, they almost didn't let in Anakin Skywalker - their supposed _chosen one,_ \- because he was considered too old at Nine or so years old. So they find force-sensitive children, preferably infants, and take them from their families - usually either without their consent or by bribing or blackmailing them. That way they can train them as a blank slate of sorts, teach them the whole Jedi code about how 'emotion is bad' from a young age… and the Republic has let them do this for _thousands _of years."

Ron's face was flat at a plate of tritanium. Then he began muttering the words 'Prime Directive' under his breath for a good minute and a half in an attempt to remind himself that if he did ANYTHING to try and stop this, he would be getting the Federation into a deep amount of shit. The rational part of him stated that it was a different culture: they had different ways of doing things. The not-so-rational part of him wanted to break heads open. "They should consider themselves LUCKY that the Federation doesn't get involved in the affairs of non-member states unless invited," He growled.

"Either way, I doubt the Jedi will be around for much longer," Jaden said. "Like all cults, people are going to start calling them out on thier bulshit. Why else do you think public opinion is turning _against _the Jedi? They wall themselves away from the rest of the galaxy, taking children to be trained to believe basic sentient species instincts like passion and love are evil… and after the Clone Wars, even _if _the Republic survives the war… neither they or the Jedi will be around for much longer after all of the resources they wasted on this war, after having been stretched so thin across the galaxy. Stretch the rubber band long enough… and it eventually breaks."

Before either of them spoke another word, the comm chimed. "_Bridge to Captain: priority message from USS_ Heisenberg."

Ron shrugged. "Patch it through to the Doc's office," he said, as both men entered Rutia's office, and Ron spun the monitor around before turning it on. "Pinkerton. What is it, An?"

The Andorian wearing an Odyssey uniform narrowed her eyes. "_I hate it when you shorten my name. There's been a breakout inside the Jedi Temple. StarSec is trying to contain her, but she's a lot more durable than she appears_."

"Why call me, then?"

"_You've been working on a way to neutralize a Jedi's psionic powers since you heard about them,_" she said. "_You were the best choice._"

"I've got a few theories, but its still a work in progress," Ron said before he sighed. "We'll be there momentarily, we'll take care of it."

"_Get here as fast as you can. _Heisenberg _out._" the Andorian vanished from the screen, and Ron turned his head to Jaden. "what?"

"You've been working on anti-Force countermeasures for the past two weeks?" Jaden asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A counter to Dooku and whoever decided to try and wreak havoc," Ron said. "I haven't had a chance to actually TEST them: didn't want to send a message to Miss Tano that I don't trust her when that is anything BUT the case."

Jaden sighed. "I'll save you the trouble, I've got a little something on my ship that should help." He said, before he grinned a bit. "What do you know about a planet called Myrkr?"

"Not much: the records we got from the Republic are limited at best. It's like they don't want us to know about the place."

"And for good reason," Jaden said. "Myrk is home to two… very dangerous creatures. The Vornskrs, and their prey the Ysalamiri. Vornskrs hunt their prey using the Force… but the Ysalamiri have a very interesting ability. They create a bubble where anything or one inside cannot exert any influence over the force. No force powers or anything. One Ysalamiri bubble makes a field roughly 10 meters wide… but get enough of them in one place, you could generate a 1 kilometer wide Anti-Jedi area. We have several Ysalamiri on Mandalore that we're using to keep Darth Maul locked up, and my father is trying to make it so each Mandalorian ship has at least a few Ysalamiri onboard at all times in case we _do _fight Jedi or Sith in the future."

"...Think you can transport one of them over when we drop out of FTL?" Ron asked. "I don't want to risk a living being's life in combat."

"You want to try and recreate the ability using technology?"

"Kid, we are VERY good at making shit up on the fly. In fact, the DOMINION is jealous of us, and the Borg try to assimilate Starfleet engineers to get their hands on those skills."

Jaden sighed but nodded as he hit his wrist communicator. "Beviin, could ya transport Kad to my position?" He asked. A few moments later, appearing next to Jaden was a yellow lizard-like creature, which he quickly picked up and put on his shoulders. "Ron, meet Kad - my own Ysalimiri."

"Is it odd that I think that little thing is adorable?"

Jaden blinked. "What."

"Seriously, it's cute in an odd sort of way. I like it!" Ron pulled out a tricorder and began scanning Kad, while petting him. "Well, this is going to take a few hours and a high-grade medical scanner: this tricorder just isn't good enough. Think you can put him on the biobed: reassure him that I'm not going to hurt him at all?"

Before Jaden could say anything, Kad actually lightly hissed as he began to crawl off Jaden, reaching for Ron as it began to climb up Ron's arm, and gently rested himself over his shoulders, letting out what almost sounded like a purr. "I think he likes you." Jaden said with a light chuckle. "I think he knows you won't hurt him."

Ron felt woozy for a moment. "Ok, weird," he muttered. "I think he's generating a subspace dampening field. It's screwing with my connection to the ship's communications network."

Jaden smirked. "Think we can use that against the Borg?" he asked. "Make them, you know, not a threat?"

"It'd work for a little while, but the Borg are NOTHING if not adaptable. They've adapted to every high-tech system we've made, and this guy is just an organic jammer. A fucking cute one, mind you, but one the Borg will eventually adapt to. Still, it'd help free a few people from their grip." Ron managed to place the lizard on the biobed, petting him when he protested being moved from his perch. In an odd way, Ron didn't like it either.

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit," Jaden said. "I need to get a team ready so we can help you with your… Jedi problem."

"See you in a couple of hours." The Mandalorian left sickbay, leaving his pet in the safe hands of a Starfleet officer.

* * *

**Coruscant - Jedi Temple**

* * *

"Well, she's contained in the Temple, but that just might make her more dangerous. Captain Yamato, any recommendations on your part?"

"Well, for starters, the first thing to do might be to up the settings on the phasers," Takeshi said. "If setting four won't slow her down, we need to keep dialing up the power until we find what _**can**_." Which would be a problem. If setting seven, maximum stun, didn't work, then they wouldn't have a choice but to use the next setting up: setting eight. Kill. Barriss would die.

"She seems much stronger than she was before, which makes no sense," Luminara said. "She hasn't had the opportunity to engage in physical training and the Force can only go so far."

"HOW, we can figure out later," Mace said. "First, we need to find and capture her."

At that moment however, several beams appeared behind them, as appearing via transporter beam appeared Jaden, Ron, and several Starfleet Guards and Mandalorians. "I think we have a solution to your… breakout problem," Ron said grinning.

"How? And how-"

"Isolinear tags planted in the floor," Ron replied. "They're set to a Starfleet-only frequency, so we're the only ones that can beam in or out if the need arises. And thanks to our Mandalorian friends, I was able to set up a subspace jamming device." Ron held up an armband-like fixture in his hand. "This is a modified emergency transporter armband. I've rigged it to simulate the anti-force bubble of a ysalamiri." The Jedi frowned at that. "Oh, yes, I know about them. It's a crime that you don't let people know they exist: they're fucking ADORABLE!"

"I take it the reason they don't let people know about the ysalamiri is because of the… anti-force bubble they generate," Takeshi mused.

"That… would be correct."

"I've had a few more of these modified," Ron said. "She won't be able to use the Force on you if she can't touch you. It's skin-tight, but it's better than nothing. Anything I need to know?"

"She is armed with a Phaser," Takeshi informed. "And so far we can't even bring her down with Phasers set to Stun level 7. Though it seems she hasn't set her phaser to kill either, as she's only been stunning people so far."

"She might not know HOW," Ron said. "Modify your phasers to use a concussive burst, and set them to level 8. That will take her down without killing her."

"Concussive? How many modes do your weapons HAVE?!"

"Phasers: the Swiss army knife of energy weapons!" Ron said. "They cut, weld and do anything that the user can think of with the right amount of time."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Jaden asked as he altered the firing mode of his own phaser Ron had given him. "Let's go hunting."

* * *

The bowels of the Temple were just as rich as the rest of the place above ground. It reminded Ron of a tomb or five on Earth and a few other planets. "Make sure your personal shields are active at all times." Ron said. "I'm the only one that can take more than four shots without, well, going down."

"Why's that?" Jaden asked.

"Borg shielding. Drones can adapt to energy weapons in at least two shots. Barriss has no idea how to use a phaser beyond point and shoot, and I don't think she has an idea about the existence of the Borg."

"Then how do you still have the-"

"65% of their shit is still in my body, including the emitters."

"Alright." Jaden said nodding, "Now, if I were a rogue Jedi, where would I be… "

A scream was heard as a Starfleet officer was thrown into a wall four floors below them. "I'd be trying to get out using the ventilation system." Ron said. "Split up. Take, go with Jaden and his team. Commander Yamato, plus come with me. We're going to ambush her."

"Understood," Takeshi replied.

"Let's go!" Jaden said as Takeshi joined their team before they split from the others.

* * *

Barriss was getting tired of seeing those uniformed men trying to stop her. They clearly didn't want to kill her, but they didn't want her to LEAVE, either. A proper blaster bolt hit the ground in front of her, making her freeze.

"That's quite enough," Takeshi said, katana drawn as he stepped into the area, Jaden next to him. "Don't make this any harder on yourself than it has to be. Surrender."

"Really? Another… one of you and a Mandalorian. I took down your entire little army."

"Then why hesitate?" Jaden asked with a smirk. "Or are you afraid to take a Mandalorian on one-on-one?"

Barriss aimed her phaser at Jaden, then fired the Starfleet energy weapon at him. Jaden avoided the beam, as he wasn't fully confident in the shields' ability to take a sustained beam weapon at a setting clearly powerful enough to through armor and knock someone out.

"Why is it that the one time I find a smart Jedi who actually uses something _other _than a light saber, she's trying to shoot me?" Jaden mused to himself as he activated the Subspace bubble device. "Takeshi, cover me!"

Takeshi activated his own Subspace bubble generator, and rather than a standard Starfleet Phaser Pistol, which had a slightly boomerang-like design, the pistol he drew looked a lot more like a Blaster Pistol. He pointed it at Barriss and fired a few bolts of Phaser energy at her, even as he closed in with his sword in his other hand.

The former Jedi continued to fire at the two, but didn't get the chance to escape as an explosion knocked her into a force field and shocked her unconscious. "Oh, lookie, mates! I caught me a biggun!"

All three of them shook their heads at Ron's antics. "What kept you?"

"This place is a hell of a maze. Any trouble?"

"Nope," Jaden said. "One Jedi recaptured, just another day for a Mando. So what next?"

Ron grabbed Barriss, then noticed something was wrong with her. "She's too heavy," he said.

"What?"

"She should be roughly 70 kilos." Ron said, "She weighs 130." He checked the back of her neck. "Oh, shit."

"Huh?" Jaden asked as he walked towards them, "What is it?"

He moved the hair away, showing a barb sticking out of her neck. "The fuck is that?!" Jaden shouted.

"In 2364, Starfleet was infiltrated by neural parasites," Ron said. "They needed oxygen to survive inside a host body, so they kept a sort of breathing gill out of the back of the neck. These things are from OUR universe: how the fuck did they get HERE?!"

"You're asking the wrong person here…" Jaden said, looking at the 'gill' "It could be related to what happened to her on Geonosis… I read a report on how she and some clones were infected by a Geonosian parasite…"

"It would also explain why her personality just shifted in the extreme." Ron said. "Infectees were different after infection: memory loss and such. We're going to need to beam her to the Ra-Cailum for immediate surgery: that thing needs to get out and out NOW."

* * *

**Command center**

* * *

"Why are the inhibitors shut down?" Mace asked.

"I don't know, Master Windu: I was just given the order for a medical emergency."

"There's a damn good reason for why I gave the order." Ron said as he and the others walked into the command center.

"It seems Barriss wasn't to blame for the Temple bombing… at least not entirely." Jaden said, "When we captured her, Barris appeared to have a Parasite from Ron's universe inside her, controlling her."

"What?!"

"It might be from THIS universe; I need to perform an analysis of its' quantum RNA signature first," Ron said. "Regardless, it explains her seeming invulnerability to phaser fire and her actions in the bombing."

"If I might make a suggestion Master Windu, we should probably do medical check-ups on other Jedi in the temple as well." Jaden suggested, "We know Barriss was infected, but who knows how many other Jedi could have been infected without you knowing… if you couldn't even tell Barris had a parasite in her…"

"Agreed. I'll inform the healers-"

"No," Ron said finally. "Starfleet medical personnel should do the job. Mystic bullshit won't help you here: only actual medical science."

"Ra-Cailum _to away teams. You better get back up here, boss: Doc Yulanra's got something to tell you._"

"On our way. Care to join us, Master Windu?"

* * *

**Later - onboard the **_**Ra Cailum**_

* * *

"What's the word, Doc?" Jaden asked as he, Ron, Mace and the others arrived at the medical bay of the _Ra Cailum._

"Massive problem," Rutia said. "The parasite in her body isn't in the larval stage."

"Larval?"

"The fucking things are the size of my hand when they're babies," She said. "The bigger ones are large enough to take up most of a human's torso. This thing is leaning towards the latter." She pulled up an image on a monitor. "One of her lungs is gone, as well as her liver and kidneys. I operate, she dies."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Luminara asked. If there was a chance to have her apprentice return back to normal, she was going to take it.

"There's a way," she said, sighing. "You might not like it." Rutia's eyes turned to Ron.

"Oh, HELL no," Ron muttered.

"It's the only way, boss."

"Uh… care to enlighten us?" Jaden asked, as Ron looked at the Jedi and Mandalorian.

"We use the borg nanoprobes in my body to set up a life support system for her brain." He said. "Allow Rutia to operate without permanently killing Barriss."

"Are we _sure _that's a good idea?" Jaden asked skeptically. "After what you guys told me about Borg Technology…"

"I did it to save your sister's life as well. Show a little faith." Ron said before he balled his hand into a fist, then two protrusions exited his index and middle fingers' knuckles. "Nothing ventured." His tubules made contact with Barriss' neck, injecting the nanoprobes into her bloodstream, but only a moment later, something went wrong as Ron was shocked, literally.

"Ow! The Fuck!" Ron shouted as he back off.

"Force Lightning…" Jaden muttered, "It can be a bitch sometimes… but if she's unconscious, how is she using the force with the subspace field up?"

"I removed the armband as soon as she was properly sedated!"

"Oh, that's fucking wonderful," Ron growled. "The encoders are fried and they aren't responding to my commands."

"So… what does that mean for her?" Jaden asked.

"Odds are, the nanoprobes are returning to their original programming," Takeshi remarked. "And that means one thing… assimilation."

"No odds. They ARE assimilating her." Barriss' skin began losing tone, and she groaned as her veins became a sickening black before tubules ejected from her knuckles, interfacing with the computer network.

"What are you just standing around for?!" Jaden shouted. "Put her in a stasis field or something!"

"That won't work! Trust me, I know!" Ron shouted as he slammed on his commbadge "Pinkerton to bridge: lock out the main computer and shut down main power! Everything but life support!"

"_Done, boss!_"

"What the hell's THAT going to do?!" Jaden asked.

"She can't access the holonet and put out a call if she doesn't have access to a subspace communications system!" Ron said.

"Where's Kad?" Jaden asked Ron. "Ysalamiri affect subspace, preventing Jedi to use the Force, right?. Maybe we could use that to stop Barriss?"

"Keep giving me more reasons to LOVE that little guy, PLEASE!" Ron said as he ran out of sickbay, returning a minute or two later with Kad, who was purring up a storm on his back. "I had him in the science lab for a bioscan, but he clearly likes me so much he JUMPED on me. Rutia, grab the special phaser and set it to the maximum setting in case what I do doesn't work."

"Got it!" Rutia said as she reached for where said Phaser was located, pulling it out as she set the Phaser up. "Let's hope this works then."

"Special phaser?"

"The beam it fires emits omicron radiation," Ron said. "It will destroy the borg technology in both our bodies. It will also kill us if I can't get in touch with Barriss. Go to holodeck two. If I get in contact with Barriss, you'll know it."

"What do you mean, 'You're getting in contact with Barris?'" Luminara asked.

"Obviously he's going to try and connect to Barriss in her mind somehow," Jaden said. "Come on, Holodeck two, now!"

Ron laid down on a biobed while the others ran out of the sickbay. "Fortune favors." He extended the tubules into the readout beside the bed.

* * *

"This is insane!" Luminara "We're entrusting my apprentice to someone who, for lack of a better term, is little more than a droid! She should've been taken to the healers in the Temple, not subjected to this!"

"If your Temple healers were worth a damn, you would've found that Parasite from the get go," Jaden snapped back. "Ron is trying to _save _your student, so how about instead insulting him, we do what he fucking says!?"

They arrived at the holodeck around ten minutes later (crawling through 37 Jefferies tubes to go up NINE DECKS and 300 meters forward) before the power kicked in, activating the holodeck as the interior of the Jedi Temple appeared. In particular, the Room of a Thousand Fountains. "Did… we just get sent back down to the Temple?"

"I said _Holodeck _for a reason, didn't I?" Jaden said rolling his eyes. "Their holo tech is way more advanced than ours."

"Clear-" A scream was heard from down one of the halls.

"That was Barriss!" Luminara shouted.

"Jesus Christ, lady, will you calm the fuck down?!"

"And THAT was Ron," Jaden said. "Come on, let's try and find them. Can't be too far away."

The group walked down the corridor, finding their wayward Jedi fighting Ron in an attempt to get away. Due to the fact that Barriss was panicking and Ron was calm as a sheet of glass, she wasn't going anywhere. "Miss Offee, CALM THE FUCK DOWN OR I WILL PUT YOU DOWN! ON THE GROUND!"

"GET AWAY!" Barriss shouted, as she continued to toss anything she could at Ron, "Just LEAVE ME ALONE! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

"Oh, for the love of…" Ron batted the incoming projectiles away before pulling out a phaser and shooting her, sending her to the ground. "When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative: violence." Ron, or rather a holographic avatar of him, looked at the group led by Takeshi and Jaden. "Hey, kids. Sup?"

"She gonna be alright?" Jaden asked, looking at Barriss's image.

"She'll be fine: she's suffering from the Matrix effect, as I like to call it."

"What?"

"It's from an old 21st century vid of the same name." Ron said. "Basically, because her holographic avatar was shot with a phaser on heavy stun, she believes she was actually hit with a phaser on heavy stun."

"Alright, so why are we here?" Jaden asked.

"Simple. Her mind is a jumble," Ron said. "We give her a familiar setting, somewhere comfortable, and she'll recover faster. Starfleet Command did the same thing to me when I was freed from the Collective using a holodeck, and if it worked for me..."

"Alright…" Jaden said, nodding. "It may be best that we keep some familiar people in here as well… people Barriss knew before she got infected by the Parasite, help her get through this."

Luminara approached her apprentice in holo, glaring at Ron while she did. Clearly, she was not a fan of Starfleet's handling of the situation. Jaden, on the other hand, understood that there was probably no other way. Hell, RON didn't want to do it, but he did. "I'll wake her up. Keep her focus ENTIRELY on you. Pinkerton to sickbay: Rutia, begin the operation. Get that fucking thing out of her."

"Barris…" Luminara whispered, as she knelt down and held her Padawan in her arms, "Barris… its me, wake up, please…"

Barris began to groan a bit, her eyes fluttered open as she looked up at her master. "M-Master?" She asked, "Is… that you? Wha… what happened… ev… everything feels weird… I can't… I can't think straight…"

"Barriss, I have to ask you what the last thing you remember was."

"I… I was on Geonosis," she said. "I was separated from the clones… I saw some sort of nest near an arch of some kind… Something… hit me. Then I felt something enter my mouth. I tried to scream, then… nothing."

"Typical," Ron muttered. "that's something the other victims said, too."

Barriss' gaze turned to Ron, at which time her eyes widened in shock. And fear. "Him… Master he's-" Barris began to shout out, but Luminara cut her off.

"Don't worry, Barris, Captain Pinkerton is a friend, he allowed me to help you because if we didn't do this, you might have been… assimilated by the Borg." she said.

"Borg? Is that-"

"No, we don't have a name for them," Luminara said. "What happened to you just now was the fault of a cybernetic race that abducts people and turns them into mindless drones."

Jaden resisted saying 'like the Jedi', mostly because Ron was connected to the ship and would probably do something to make him regret it.

"Barriss, we are not in the Jedi Temple. We're on Captain Pinkerton's ship, the _Ra-Cailum_. you are currently undergoing surgery to get that… parasite out of your body."

"We had to do this so you could be calmed down, according to the Captain," Mace said. "There was a… complication during the beginning of the procedure which nearly had you assimilated, but the Captain and Jaden managed to find a way to prevent that."

Barriss looked at her body. "That isn't-"

"Possible? It is," Ron said. "In 2367, a man was linked to the ship's computer of the _Enterprise-D_. This is a similar thing, only with Borg technology. It's been over a year since your mission to Geonosis, from my limited understanding."

"A-A year?" Barris asked, "No, that… that can't… "

"It's been a year, Barriss." Luminara said, "A long time and much has changed."

"You helped bomb the Jedi Temple and framed Ahsoka for killing the wife of the suicide bomber. That got her kicked out of the Jedi Order. She's on board, by the way: en route to sickbay, actually." The glares Ron got from the group would kill lesser men. Ron was not a lesser man. "Just because I'm helpful does not mean I'm going to lie to her. Besides the Prime Directive, a Starfleet officer's first duty is to the truth, no matter how harsh that truth is."

"W-wha..." Barris said, her eyes widening "I… no… no I… that can't..."

"Well, we can't entirely blame you for the bombing." Ron said, "That THING in you probably got corrupted by the Jedi teachings, and thought, in some twisted way, that it was helping the Jedi Order. Still, it pinned it on Ahsoka and the Council threw her to the wolves. Good thing that she left, though: we needed a bit of a guide."

"How could that… parasite possibly have thought it was _helping _the Order by doing that?" Mace asked.

"Like I said, twisted and corrupted," Ron said. "Jedi have stronger wills then most people, I've noticed."

"_Sickbay to Pinkerton: can I get main power back at some point? Can't operate in the dark._"

Ron sighed. "SONJA!"

"_On it!_"

A moment later, Rutia's voice was heard again. "_MUCH better. She'll be out of surgery in about 5 hours. Inform her of what the hell's going on: I don't want her going crazy when she gets up. Yulanra out._"

"Barris, Rutia is going to begin operating on you," Luminara said. "She's going to take care of the Parasite in your body… I just need you to remain calm, and when you wake up again, you'll be in the medbay of the starship."

Barriss shuddered. "Would you… mind explaining what in the name of all that is holy what is going on?!" she said, pointing at Ron. "Your uniform isn't like anything I've seen before, I've never heard of these 'Borg' and we don't HAVE this kind of technology!"

"Considering you've been out of the loop, allow me." Ron snapped his fingers, and the Temple faded away, replaced with a Starfleet-style briefing room, although closer to the command centers used by the Republic. "My name is Ronald Pinkerton, captain of the United Federation of Planets starships Ra-Cailum. My counterpart in the more modern uniform is Takeshi Yamato, brother to Councilwoman Ryoko Yamato and captain of the _Raging Tempest_." Takeshi adopted a shocked look. "Just because I don't get involved in politics doesn't mean I don't keep tabs." A holographic map of the Milky way appeared in full color, almost tangible as a blue area of the galaxy appeared. "That is the territory of the UFP as of this date. We're from an alternate quantum reality."

At Barriss' confused look, Jaden dumbed it down. "They're from an alternate universe," he said. "There's no Jedi or Sith over there, just some crazy-ass technology and alien lifeforms we never thought possible here. "

"But… that's impossible."

ALL of the Starfleet personnel in the room said, in stereo, "You fucking wish."

Before anyone could stop him, Ron began listing the types of alternate universes. "Mirror Universe, assimilated Alpha Quadrant, no Federation, no warp drive, no Dominion War-"

"OK, Ron, I think they get it," Takeshi interrupted.

"There was even a time when hundreds of thousands of Enterprises entered the same universe!" Ron said chuckling, "THAT'S nightmare fuel right there!"

"Uh...why? What so important about the _Enterprise_?" Barris asked.

"Oh you have a _LOT _to catch up on, Barris." Jaden said with a chuckle.

* * *

**Meanwhile - Sickbay**

* * *

Ahsoka watched as Rutia operated on Barriss, shaking her head at the reason for her pinning the bombing on her. The parasite, nicknamed a 'bluegill' by the infinitely terrifying doctor, was semi-malevolent to begin with, whose mental programing was corrupted heavily by Barriss' Jedi teachings, forcing it to bomb the temple to make them retreat from the war. It was trying to save them from themselves in some twisted, murderous way.

Still, Ahsoka wasn't going back to them, even if Barriss wasn't to blame. During her time on the _Ra-Cailum_ and _Enterprise_, she had learned that Starfleet seemed to just be a better version of the Jedi Order, one that you could leave at any time without feeling ostracized. She had made up her mind. As soon as the operation was complete, she was going to ask Ron to help her join Starfleet formally.

'_I need to do this…_' she thought to herself. '_Even though I probably won't even be assigned to the _Enterprise _or _Ra-Cailum… _the Federation and Starfleet… it just feels _right.'

"Argh. This is WRONG. Half of her internal organs are just GONE. I'm going to have to implant a number of artificial organs so she'll survive. Get me the medical data on Mirialians so I can make the adjustments before putting them in!"

"Yes, doctor." Rutia's red surgical gown was stained with Barriss' blood, and she was busy manhandling the parasite out of her body, which was doped up thanks to the Borg nanoprobes. "Put this thing in stasis. Ahsoka, give me a hand!"

"Right," Ahsoka said as she was right at her side. "What do you need?"

"I need you to get me the artificial organs from the medical storage. I need to fine tune them to Miss Offee's body before I do anything. Make it fast: I can't keep her on life support forever."

"Got it!" Ahsoka said as she quickly headed to the medical storage, pulling out the artificial organs that she needed before bringing them to her.

"Watkins! Get over here and make sure she doesn't kick the bucket while I'm making sure she survives past the operating table!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The doctors began to do their jobs while Ahsoka watched as they did. Rutia must've spent more then one life as a doctor, as she did the adjustments quickly and began implanting them in Barriss' body. "_Miss Tano, please report to the transporter room: the _Enterprise _just returned, and Captain shon is requesting your presence._"

"You can go, Ahsoka." Rutia said, her eyes never leaving Barris. "We can take care of things here."

"Right… thank you Doctor." Ahsoka said before she headed out of the medical bay towards the Transporter room.

* * *

"That pretty much covers everything you need to know," Ron finished. Barriss tried to assimilate the knowledge she had been given over the past half hour, which she knew was VERY condensed.

"This is rather hard to take in," Barris said, shaking her head

"You're telling US. We're still getting used to the idea that there's another universe on our doorstep. Starfleet's used to it, but…" Ron and Takeshi shrugged. "Meh."

"You'll get used to it," Jaden said with a chuckle. "Their universe can throw you in for a loop or two here and there, but it's never too insane."

"Giant space amoeba." THAT caused Jaden to give Ron the 'WTF' look. "You asked for it."

"_Bridge to captain: Captain Shon wants to speak with you._"

"I thought the _Enterprise_ wasn't going to be back for another three weeks." Ron said.

"_Clearly not, sir. Should I tell them to wait?_"

Ron shook his head. "Patch it through to sickbay: I'll take it there. Excuse me." Ron's holographic avatar vanished.

* * *

**Meanwhile - With Palpatine**

**Unknown Location**

* * *

Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious stood upon the bridge of the _Praetor-_class Battlecruiser, grinning as he looked at the massive construct which orbited the planetoid. Numerous ships guarding the colossal object as it slowly took its form as a large small moon sized battlestation. With the presence of the Federation, Palpatine diverted a few extra resources towards this project, knowing that sooner or later he would need to deal with the Federation. And this was to be one of his many trump cards.

Thanks to the technology provided to him by Dooku, as well as what he was able to acquire through the Federation thus far, the station was to be far more powerful than Palpatine originally envisioned, something far more grand that even the Federation would think twice about attacking.

'_Soon… it will be complete..._' Palpatine thought, '_The Death Star will be the ultimate power in our universe… and will be more than a match for anything the Federation's universe may send our way..._'

His thoughts turned toward the Death Star's ultimate targets: Bajor, Vulcan, Andoria, Qo'nos, New Romulus, Betazed and, crown jewel of the Milky Way… Earth.

* * *

**Ron the True Fan:** (Death Star theme plays) What, you thought this thing wasn't going to pop up?! For shame!

**Takeshi Yamato:** Hopefully this first one still has the same weakness it did in canon, though - definitely enjoyed the footage of the trench run from A New Hope, not to mention the times you can take part in it yourself in Video Games - such as the original X-Wing Game, or Rogue Squadron 2 (Rogue Squadron 1 had a facsimile, but it had bends in the trench, that weren't present in the original movie or in RS2)

**117Jorn:** It might, it might not… there's only one way to find out…

**Ron the True Fan**: tune in next time!

Ja Ne!


	3. Chapter 3

Stars Asunder

Disclaimer: I seriously don't see the point in-(chokes on air and grabs at throat)  
Vader: Do you wish to bring the copyright lawyers down on you? No? Then you will state it!

**Ron the True Fan:** …I hate Vader at times.

**Takeshi Yamato:** Agreed. I mean, he was decent as Anakin, but while he maintained his skills as Vader, he also gained a serious temper problem.

**117Jorn:** We ain't doing it Vader. (Vader tries to force-choke Jorn, but notices Ysalamiri around his neck) Yeah, nice try. Let's get this thing started already!

* * *

**Coruscant orbit - USS **_**Enterprise**_

* * *

Ahsoka stared at her feet for a good five minutes before she entered Shon's ready room. "Miss Tano," Shon said. "I take it you were nervous and wondering why I called you over here?"

"Yes, Captain," Ahsoka said, gulping a bit. "I… I think I'm more than a little scared."

"I know," Shon said nodding. "I was wondering… what did you intend to do once your training's complete, Ahsoka? We have civilians on board, but I don't see you doing what they do on board."

Ahsoka bit her lip for a moment, before she took a deep breath. "Captain…" she said, before she sighed. "I… I wish to… I want to Join Starfleet."

Shon was surprised to say the least. "I… wasn't expecting that," He said. "I knew you wanted to stay, but I expected you to be a consultant." He pulled up a PADD. "You would need help in the form of a sponsor for Starfleet Academy, as your people aren't members of the Federation."

Ahsoka hung her head. '_Oh… well so much for-_'

"Thankfully, you have three."

Her head perked up. "Wait, What?"

"Captain Pinkerton sent over a glowing recommendation." Shon said, looking at the PADD "Quote, 'handled herself during the Gateway incident as if she was an Academy graduate'. Captain Yamato did the same." He then grinned a bit "And you probably know who number three is."

Ahsoka blinked "Y-you, sir?" She asked, as Shon nodded.

"You have a _lot _of potential, Miss Tano." Shon said, "Your a natural when it comes to the situations the _Enterprise_ and _Ra-Cailum_ has come to deal with. You handle yourself just like any Starfleet officer would… I honestly can't think of a reason why _not _to bring you into Starfleet."

Ahsoka smiled. "Thank you, Captain."

"Now, there IS the problem of your age." Shon said, "Academy students have a minimum age requirement of 18, but considering your skills and accomplishments, waiting for you to turn 18 would be… foolhardy. As such, with the recommendation of the commandant of Starfleet Academy… I am giving you a field commission to the rank of Lieutenant. Congratulations."

Ahsoka was a bit surprised by the sudden promotion, but was happy none the less "Thank you sir, I won't let you down." She said.

"Your skills would probably be put to good use in security," Shon said. "I'll assign you there under Kyona's command until further notice. Go to the quartermaster's office to get yourself a uniform."

"Yes sir." Ahsoka said nodding, before Shon waved her away as Ashoka left the ready room.

A Starfleet Lieutenant. She truly belonged on the Enterprise now as she made her way to the quartermaster's office. Starfleet uniform protocols were flexible, allowing officers to wear earlier versions of the uniform should they wish. She wore the 2360-65 version of the uniform as it was used by NCOs after 2365 and she counted as one, but now… she had a wider degree of choices.

The lift doors opened as she arrived on deck 9, where the quartermaster was located. "Ah, Miss Tano!" The quartermaster said smiling, "Or should I be saying Lieutenant now? Shon just sent me the message."

"Yes. I'm going to need a new uniform."

"Yeah, the 2350-65 uniform was more of a jumpsuit than anything else. Any thoughts?"

Ahsoka looked over the monitor's catalogue. The 2260s era uniform was almost comical while the long-lasting 2279-2350 uniform looked a little TOO warm, even for a Togruta. The uniforms used by the _Ra-Cailum_ crew reminded her now of the devastating Dominion War, which she had read up on. "I'll take a standard Odyssey uniform: the long coat-type looks a bit ridiculous."

"One Odyssey uniform, coming right up." The Quartermaster said, as he pulled out the standard Odyssey uniform for Ahsoka, "You can change in the room over there - welcome to Starfleet!"

Ahsoka smiled as she took the uniform, then sighed a little. "I'm still a growing being, so I might be back sooner than you think for resizing."

"I can live with that, Lieutenant."

She entered the booth, then began undressing as she considered her new career.

* * *

**Meanwhile - Ringo Vinda**

* * *

"The battle here at Ringo Vinda has been going on for several months now," Anakin said, standing before the map of the Ringo Vinda system as he stood before the commanders of the 501st. "Separatists forces have been halting any and all advances we've made against them so far. The 442nd Sieg battalion lead by Masters Tiplar and Tiplee and Commander Doom are doing what they can, but they've asked for assistance - that's where we come in."

"The CIS forces are being lead by Admiral Trench," Master Tiplar said. "He somehow survived the Battle of Christophsis, and now he's here… I asked you here since you have experience against him… but I called for a bit more help as well."

At that moment, the doors to the briefing room opened as two figures stepped inside. The first was a woman wearing the usual Republic uniform, with the rank pins of an Admiral. She had long straight red hair and emerald green eyes, and had a very commanding, yet caring look about her. Walking next to her was a Clone Commander in yellow ARC Trooper armor.

"Apologies for being late, shuttle trouble," the woman said, walking towards them.

"Ah, not a problem Admiral Renau," Tiplar said, nodding. "Master Skywalker - Vice Admiral Sutura Renau, of the 11th 'Blazing Claws' Sector Army. Her forces will be joining ours in the attack."

"Admiral," Anakin said nodding. "Your help will be welcomed-" A column of light signaled the arrival of a Starfleet officer. He looked mostly human, only with a 'wrinkled' nose. "Master Skywalker, I'm Captain Tulam Voran of the USS Yutani. Starfleet Command's assigned me to make sure your battle doesn't result in excess civilian casualties."

Anakin was about to say something, before Sutura cut him off. "Thank you for your concerns, Captain," Sutura said. "The battle will mostly be taking place on the Ring station - any civilians onboard had been evacuated when the battle began a few months ago. They are either down on the planet surface itself in underground shelters, or sent off-planet."

"That's exactly why we're here," Tulam said. "During the Dominion War, debris from space battles rained down on inhabited planets, killing hundreds of thousands of people. My ship will be intercepting the debris. I don't think you want another Honoghr."

All winced at THAT reminder. "That's… wise, Captain Voran." Sutura said nodding.

"Tulam, Admiral," The Starfleet Captain said.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm Bajoran," Tulam said. "For example, Master Skywalker's name would be pronounced Skywalker Anakin."

"Ah, my apologies," Sutura said. "I am still reading up and memorizing the files the Federation sent the Republic on the species and cultures from your universe… needless to say I still have _much_ to go through."

"You are only mortal, Admiral," Tulam said. "This may also serve as a chance to make the separatists walk to the negotiating table. If they see a Starfleet ship close to your fleet, they may assume that we've allied ourselves with the Republic. I just hope they see reason, unlike the Cardassians from the pre-war government."

Sutura sighed. "I hope so as well, Captain, but the CIS is not that easily fooled - especially with Trench in command," she said. "Unless you actually start opening fire on his ships, he will list your starship as not a threat… he knows you won't break your prime directive - he's not a fool like other Confederate Commanders." She then smiled "But, at least you've relieved me of one problem - I was considering sending a few of my light cruisers to deal with any rogue debris… at least now I can focus my full attention towards the battle."

"Like it or not, Admiral, I'm here and I've got my orders," Tulam said. "I'll return to the Yutani and prepare for the incoming fleet. I just hope none of the commanders under Trench's command are stupid enough to fire on an _Ambassador_-class starship."

"Trench is no fool - and most of his commanders are likely Droids and will follow his orders to the letter," Sutura said. "So long as he doesn't order an attack - which he most likely will not - he will focus his attention towards us."

"I'll wish you luck, then." he tapped his commbadge and transported back to his ship.

"What if Trench DOES decide to fire on his ship?" Anakin asked. "Just because Trench doesn't want to doesn't mean Dooku won't order him to do it."

"If Dooku is stupid enough to drag in one of the scariest nations we've ever encountered, more power to him." Sutura said. "But Dooku won't - he knows the CIS stands no chance against the Federation at the moment, and he won't try to provoke them in a military engagement." She then sighed. "But that's enough of that for now - we have a battle to plan."

* * *

**Raxus**

* * *

Raxus was the acting capital of the Confederacy of Independent systems, in lieu of the Council moving around so often. "This is insane," one of the CIS Representatives said. "The Republic clearly has the backing of this… United Federation of Planets. The only way to survive this is to stand down and make peace with them!"

"They have not made an alliance with the Federation," Dooku said sternly. "Their Prime Directive forbids interference with non-member organizations. If you actually would listen to the reports, any battles the Federation has been present in, they played non-combat roles. Escorting civilian transports and evacuations, intercepting orbiting debris, and observing the battle from afar. The Federation possesses no intentions of dragging itself into this war so long as we do not provoke them."

"And what if one of our commanders DOES provoke them?!" Another representative shouted. "General Grievous might ignore your command to leave them alone simply to go after that Jedi exile, Ahsoka Tano!" The point was well-put. Grievous might just go after the _Enterprise _simply to make sure Tano DID die to make sure no one survived an encounter with him. The 'good' general might do just that.

"I assure you, General Grievous is not THAT stupid." Dooku said, before adding as an afterthought. '_At least I HOPE he's not that stupid._' "But I have sent word to all armies that any Federation ships are _not _to be fired upon. The same goes for vessels belonging to the Romulan Republic or the Klingon Empire."

"Then what do we do to ensure they are our allies, not our enemies, count?" Nute Gunray spoke. "Perhaps we can… persuade them to join our cause." Dooku was tempted to scoff. The Federation used a moneyless economy, making it nigh-impossible to bribe them into adding the CIS. Corruption was something almost unheard of, apparently. "I will inform our field commanders to make contact if possible, in order to… persuade them."

"Do not waste your time, Gunray," Dooku said. "The Federation has a moneyless economy - they can't be bribed with."

"How does that even WORK?" Dooku chuckled.

'_If I knew, I think the Republic's corruption would be… almost non-existent._' He thought he spoke. "Perhaps you can ask them when you get the chance. Starfleet has been making overtures to bring us to negotiating with the Republic for peace. I may take them up on their offer, if only to meet with them."

* * *

**Meanwhile - At Mandalore**

* * *

Mand'alor smirked slighly as he looked out of the bridge of the _Traycn_ as he saw the new… addition to Mandalorian Space. The Klingon Defense Force had begun constructing several Kingon-designed Shipyards over Mandalore, with some Mando touches from MandalTech, MandalMotors and Mandal Hypernautics. While they had the facilities to easily mass produce the new Mandalorian variant of the _B'rel_ \- now named the _Jai'galaar-_class Bird-of-Prey - they needed Klingon grade Shipyards to produce the additional KDF starships in Mandalorian design - including the new _Adenn_-class Battlecruiser (Based off of the _K't'inga-_class or D7), the _Bes'bavar-_class Battleship (designed off of the _Negh'var_) and the _Kandosii-_class Battle Carrier (Based off of the _Vo'Quv_).

Of course it wasn't just Klingon ships that were being built - Mandal Hypernatics were avid fans of the Republic's _Venator-_class Star Destroyers and _Dreadnought-_class Heavy Cruisers due to them bearing resemblance to older Mandalorian starships from the Mandalorian Wars. As such, using Klingon technology they created the new _Vod-_class Star Destroyer and the _Traycn-_class Cruiser. Many Klingons were actually liking the _Vod-_class, appreciating its Dagger-like design, and the upgrades they gave it and the _Traycn_ easily puts them up on par with mainstay Klingon, Romulan and Federation starships.

"So, anyone care to explain what that… Omega thing was all about?" Aren asked, with a private com directly to the _Bortasqu_. "My daughter said something about it when she recovered."

Koren, whose ship was in orbit, sighed lightly. "_It is a great source of power, Mandalore._" she said. "_A single molecule of this Omega produces the energy that a warp core generates in an entire year in a matter of milliseconds._"

"I am assuming this… Omega Molecule has a severe consequence?" Aren asked, "Otherwise I would have heard about it earlier."

"_Omega is highly unstable,_" Koren said. "_A single strain of the molecule can destroy subspace in an area of several lightyears - the Lantaru sector is the best example of this. The Federation has the Omega Protocol in place - where if Omega Molecules are found, they are to be destroyed. Their power is too great and dangerous, and we lack the ability to stabilize it… it seems only the Borg has ever successfully done so._"

Aren hummed as he nodded "If that's true, I should have a similar protocol set in place for my forces." He said, "If neither you or the Federation can use Omega, I doubt we could either."

"_I shall send over the files we have._" Koren said, "_It mirrors the Omega directive the Federation has set up, and for good reason._"

"What about the Iconian gateway?" Aren asked.

"_The Romulans have sent a ship through it,_" Koren said. "_They discovered what the Federation calls a 'Dyson sphere' on the other side. Due to their experience, the two have formed a joint command with us joining to fight off whatever comes to claim it._"

Aren rose an eyebrow at that, smirking a bit. "Any room for a few Mandos?" he asked. "A lot of my people have been itching for a fight."

Koren grinned at that "_There is plenty of glory to be had!_" she said. "_Your warriors will be transported to our side on as soon as possible when your people are ready. Q'apla!_"

"Ori'jate, Captain," Aren said. "I look forward to many future battles!"

* * *

**USS **_**Enterprise**_

* * *

Ahsoka smoothed out her new uniform. Two solid bars indicated her new rank of 1st Lieutenant, and her delta arrow commbadge was situated above her left breast. In accordance with her position in security, her stripes were yellow for operations/security, and unlike most of the crew, she had her lightsabers attached to her belt alongside a phaser. "I have to say, Lieutenant, you look VERY good in that uniform." The Quartermaster said once she stepped outside.

"Thanks," Ahsoka said. "Feels… different from the robes they make us wear back when I was with the Jedi."

"We change our uniforms every few years," the Quartermaster said. "Some people like the older designs, hence the new rules about the uniforms."

"The Ra-cailum's crew use the War-era uniforms, so I noticed," Ahsoka said, as she chuckled as she walked out of the office, heading for the bridge. "_Lieutenant Tano, please report to the bridge._"

"Already on my way." Ahsoka said as she stepped into the turbolift. "Bridge."

The lift took her to the command center of the ship, where she quickly made her way to the captain's location. "What's going on?"

"We've received a transmission from the _Nova Scotia_, one of our science ships," Shon said. "They were making a trip to a planet called Korriban. Know anything about it?"

Ahsoka's happy mood immediately dropped at the mention of that accursed world. "Korriban…" she whispered. "It's… not a planet most Jedi would even _want _to visit… not unless they fell to the Dark Side."

"Why is that?" Shon asked.

"Korriban was the ancient homeworld and birthplace of the original Sith Empire, from the Great Hyperspace Wars thousands of years ago," Ahsoka said. "It's… filled with the tombs of the dark lords of the sith who once ruled the empire… Naga Sadow, Ajunta Pall, Ludo Kressh, Marka Ragnos, Tulak Hord… those are just the most famous ones… and their spirits remain there, along with the spirits of the many Sith who died on the planet - either from the ending of the Great Hyperspace War, the Jedi Civil War, the Sith Civil War, the Great Galactic War, or the New Sith War… the planet is considered a source of great evil among the Jedi."

Shon winced. While the Jedi were rather…biased, they had experience with things like that. Vigra II was the ultimate example: what was perhaps the most malevolent being known to EXIST lived there. Armus killed Tasha Yar, tortured Admiral Riker and psychologically abused Deanna Troi simply for its' own amusement. If Korriban was this universe's Vagra II, they were going to have…problems. "Helm, take us out of orbit and set a course for Korriban."

"Aye, sir." The helmsman said as the _Enterprise _moved out of orbit from the planet, before it made the jump to hyperspace to Korriban.

* * *

**Later - Korriban**

* * *

The _Enterprise_ dropped out of FTL, less then 250,000 kilometers from the dead planet. "Sir, the Nova Scotia is dead ahead, in orbit," Tem said. "No lifesigns."

Shon scowled. "On screen," he said. The image of the ship appeared on the big screen, showing the form of a blackened, beaten _Oberth_-Class starship.

"Jesus… what happened to her?" Samuel asked.

"Multiple hull fractures, almost every EPS conduit is blown…" Kirayoshi said. "WHY do we keep the Oberth in service, again?"

"Because we have so many of the damn things." The _Enterprise_ approached, knowing whatever caused that to the _Nova Scotia_ could easily still be around.

"Sir, I'm picking up lifesigns on the surface: around 150 of them, all clustered in a valley of some kind."

Ahsoka glanced at the coordinates, gulping slightly. "That's where the Valley of Dark Lords is…" she said.

"A place with that title is usually a bad thing." Tem said.

"It's the resting place of all the Dark Lords of the Sith," Ahsoka said. "Pure evil if there was ever a place."

Jirelle shivered considerably "Sir… I am picking up a _lot _of bad emotions down there…" she said. "I… I don't think I've ever felt so much… rage… and hate…"

"Time to put those armbands to good use." Shon said. "Have an away team meet me in transporter room two. Lieutenant, you're coming with me. Sam, you have the conn."

Ahsoka nodded, as she and Shon headed for the turbolift as they headed towards the transporter room. "You sure you can handle yourself down there?" Shon asked. "I know Korriban isn't exactly a vacation for Jedi…"

"Trust me Captain, I've had my fair share of brushes with the Dark side," Ahsoka said. "I'll be fine down there - I'm just worried about anyone who goes down there with us."

"The armbands should shield us from the worst of it." Shon said. "And since lightsabers can't fully reflect nadion particle weapons, we'll be more than capable of taking on anything down there that isn't… Armus." Shon shuddered.

"Armus?" Ahsoka asked raising an eyebrow.

"Pure evil in the form of an oil slick. The people of Vagra II poured their evil tendencies into a single vessel somehow, creating a being whose sole purpose is to make people suffer for its' own entertainment," Shon said. "It killed Natasha Yar, tormented Captain Troi and nearly killed Admiral Riker." All of them had one thing in common: the _Enterprise_ NCC-1701-D.

"Believe me, if the stories I heard from Korriban are any bit as true as the Holocrons say… we may be dealing with that on the ground." Ahsoka said.

"Then we might need help." Shon said, tapping his com badge. "Put out a call for assistance to the Raging Tempest and the Ra-Cailum: other than us, they're the most experienced people."

"Yes sir,"

The two of them finally arrived at the transporter room where an away team awaited them there.

* * *

**Korriban surface - Valley of the Dark Lords**

* * *

The away team, led by Shon and Ahsoka, rematerialized on the ground, seeing the massive statues of the fallen Darths that lined Korriban's equivalent to earth's Valley of the Kings.

"I wouldn't recommend staying down here any longer then we need to, Captain," one of the away team members said, looking at their Tricorder. "My tricorder's picking up a LOT of triolic waves down here. It's mostly localized in the center of the tombs, but it's enough to affect anyone unshielded."

Ahsoka looked at Shon. "Triolic waves?" she asked. "Haven't heard of those."

"We've dealt with races that use that as a power source because it doesn't affect their physiology," Shon said. "The Devidians, for one. Maybe the Dark Side of the Force uses triolic energy without killing the user."

Before Ahsoka could ask anymore, the sound of footsteps was heard as the team whirled around where a man wearing a Starfleet officers uniform slowly walked towards them - eyes downcast.

"Oh, this isn't good." The man looked up, showing his now VERY inhuman features, looking halfway between Barclay's Protometamorphosis Syndrome and the Rakghoul plague. He charged at Shon, but Ahsoka used the Force to send the poor man flying. THAT, unfortunately, caught unwanted attention: the rest of the now-transformed crew.

"The _hell _happened to them?!" One of the security crewmen shouted, his hand reaching for his phaser.

"Someone corrupted them using the Dark Side…" Ahsoka said, her eyes narrowing as she called out her Lightsaber in one hand, and her phaser in the other.

The pseudo-zombies rushed towards the away team, rushing as if they had no care for their lives. They didn't, at least until the away team downed five of them using their phasers and Ahsoka was forced to hack down a number of the infected Starfleet officers before they began to retreat down the valley.

"Follow them! We need to figure out what's going on here!" Shon shouted, as the Federation team followed the retreating pseudo-zombies deeper into the valley.

"That was the crew! How in the hell did they all get down here?!" "We're going to find out, Lieutenant."

* * *

The tomb was massive, and the entrance was lined with steps by the thousands. "The tomb of XoXaan," Ahsoka said. "She was one of the first Sith Lords. Whatever did this to the crew needs to be destroyed, Captain."

"First we need to figure out what transformed them in the first place - then we can discuss what to do with it," Shon said. "If there is a way to reverse the process, I want to know how."

Ahsoka sighed, but nodded as they ventured into the tomb of the ancient sith lord.

"Sir, triolic wave levels are MASSIVE." One of the officers said,"There's only one thing that generates them at this level."

Shon was not pleased. There were Devidians on Korriban. "I thought we were done with those things back in our universe." He muttered. "Personal shields: they'll protect us from the triolic energy for a while." The away team activated their PS generators, entering the tomb. "We're going to have a hard time getting out if they rush us."

"Captain, what do you know abou the Devidians?" Ahsoka said, being among the few of them who knew little to nothing about the Devidians.

"They… steal neural energy from living beings," Shon explained. "It's how they feed. Back in 2368, they used time travel to steal neural energy from humans in 1887 San Francisco on earth. It took Captain data losing his head-" Ahsoka cocked her head in confusion. "He's an android. It's a long story. Either way, we stopped them from making matters worse by destroying their habitat. They reappeared earlier this year, in the Neutral Zone by stealing the neural energy of the dying. The _Ra-Cailum_ stopped them from stealing an entire sector of space to feed on."

"Alright, but what's confusing me is how they got _here_, though…" Ahsoka said, as the tomb began to get darker as she used her Lightsaber as a makeshift torch. "First the parasite Barris was infected with, now these Devidians?"

"The Devidians are easy to explain: they're phase-shifted," Shon answered. "They would be able to get into another universe." The away team ventured deeper into the tomb, where they saw an unwelcome and eerily familiar artifact: an Iconian gateway. It was damaged, but it was perfectly functional from what they could see. It was supporting the ceiling of the tomb, as well. "Oh, not one of these things again."

"How the _hell _did this get here?" Ahsoka muttered, "The council recovered Sith Holocrons after our wars with the Sith, but none of them indicated something like _this _being on their own home planet!"

"The tomb's doors were phasered open." Son said, "I think the tomb was sealed until…" Shon froze as he saw a body. It was a Tellarite, with an open tricorder. He picked it up, checking through the scan records. "Hmm… according to the tricorder, the gateway activated and something came through, attacking the first team. One of them beamed back to the ship… and made everyone else come down here."

"What was it?" Shon handed the tricorder to Ahsoka. She looked at the image displayed, before her eyes widened - recognizing the creature from her history lessons.

It was a Rakghoul.

"Captain… we need to leave this place," she said. "Rakghouls came through that gate… and believe me, if the stories I've read about those things are true… you do _not _want to fight them."

Shon winced as they heard snarling from deeper in the tomb. "_Enterprise_, level this entire valley as soon as we're back on board! Level-1 decontamination!"

"_Understood, Captain. The _Ra-Cailum _and _Raging Tempest _have just arrived. Should we send down reinforcements to support you?_"

Before Shon could answer, there was a loud hissing sound echoing from around them, followed by multiple more hisses and growls, sounding as if they were coming from a distance… followed by one single loud inhumane roar unlike anything the others have heard.

"…In the words of Captain Pinkerton… GET THE FUCK OUT!" The away team opened fire as they fell back out of the tomb, knocking down formally intelligent beings while they retreated. "This is NOT what I had in mind when I came here!"

"We can't get out of here!" As things looked bleak, they were saved by light. Columns of it as they reappeared in a transporter room, but not one on the Enterprise. They were on the Ra-Cailum.

"I got 'em!" The transporter chief said with a sigh of relief. "Transporter room to bridge, we beamed them onboard."

"_Very good. Corpie, commence Operation BLOW IT THE FUCK UP!_"

"_Commencing Operation BITFU!_"

Ahsoka began chuckling. "Misfits, the lot of them," she said.

"They're the best misfits in the fleet." Shon said.

"_Captain, prepare to be beamed back to your ship. I'll send you the bill._"

"Thanks for the assistance, Captain," Shon said. "I owe you one."

The away team beamed back onto the _Enterprise_, directly to the bridge transporter. "Sir, there's a ship approaching." Sam said. "Unknown classification."

"Yellow alert," Shon said, as he sat down on his chair. "They might be the ones who attacked the _Nova Scotia_. On screen."

The main monitor flipped on, as it showed the image of a rather strange looking starship. Roughly the same size as a _Constellation-_class Starship, with three long forward-facing sticks which almost looked like Starship Nacelles, built around a large sphere-shaped center.

"Analysis?" Shon asked Tem.

"Age of the ship is approximately 30000 years, but it is temporally displaced," the science officer said.

"I've never seen that design of a ship before," Ahsoka said. "Not in the Jedi Archives at least..."

"It certainly isn't from our known universe, either," Shon said. "Open a hailing frequency."

"Channel open."

"This is Captain Va'kel Shon of the Federation starship _Enterprise_. Please identify yourselves."

An image of a being with an elongated head with wide-facing eyestalks appeared on the screen. The alien first seemed to speak in one language, before switching to english/galactic basic "_I am the Captain of the Warship _Kolar'tai, _Surrender and you shall be spared to serve the Infinite Empire! _"

"We will not surrender, we are trying to-" Shon began, before the transmission was severed, followed by the unknown vessel opening fire on them. "Shields! Now!"

The bridge darkened, and lights flashed red as the ship's weapons and defensive systems activated. "Captain Pinkerton-"

"I got it, Shon! Unleashing hell on 'em. They're not getting away." The _Enterprise_ and _Ra-Cailum_ began firing on the _Kolar'tai_, the nature of their shields allowing the low-yield photon torpedoes to impact the hull while their phasers kept them occupied. "They're attempting to enter hyperspace, sir. Should we let them go?"

"Try to disable them - I want some answers here!" Shon said.

"_On it!_" Takeshi called out as the _Raging Tempest_ flew in on a strafing run, quantum torpedoes flashing out against what were presumably the ship's engines.

Multiple explosions rocked the enemy warship as the vessel attempted to enter hyperspace, but failed. "Gravity well in place: they aren't going anywhere, Captain. Ra-Cailum's volunteered for the boarding action. Should we send assistance?" Shon shook his head. "No, we need to secure the Nova Scotia and if necessary, destroy her." The Lantree Incident was still in the forefront of their minds. "We'll be in sickbay. Sam, the bridge is yours: try not to get us blown up in the meantime."

* * *

**USS **_**Akagi **_**\- en route to Earth**

* * *

"ETA to Sol is two minutes, captain."

The Renaissance-Class light cruiser had an important cargo on board: a contingent of Jedi who were going to speak to the Federation council. With them was a member of said council: Ryoko Yamato, sister to Takeshi and one of the many representatives of the billions, if not trillions, of beings in the Federation. "Madam Senator, escorting us to your capital personally isn't required. Starfleet could easily handle this themselves, could they not?"

"Yeah, maybe they could," Ryoko informed. "But honestly, even though I broke from family tradition to go into politics rather than Starfleet, I still like to take as much of an active role in things as I can."

The Iridonian Knight had to admire that. "Still, Senator-"

"Councilwoman, not Senator," Ryoko said. "The Federation Council isn't like your Senate. Unlike them, we're not as mered in corruption. In fact, in the past 250 years, there's only been 20 recorded cases of political corruption in all levels of government."

"I'll believe that when I see it," The Knight said with a sigh. "Maybe learn a lesson or two from you…"

"The most famous case was actually referred to as 'a desperate act of patriotism'. A Starfleet admiral tried overthrowing the government, but failed. In that way, I guess it was a benign form of corruption."

"_Bridge to Councilwoman Yamato: we've arrived at Earth. I think your guests will want to come up here._"

"Understood," Ryoko replied. "We'll be right up." She was glad they were back, to be honest - she'd left her infant niece Larcei in the care of her aides for this trip, and was looking forward to seeing the little girl again.

"You seem eager to be back home, Councilwoman."

"Yes. I'm worried about my niece. Mainly the sort of trouble she's going to try and get into."

The group entered a turbolift, taking them to the bridge.

"Ah, Councilwoman. You're just in time. On screen."

She turned to the viewscreen, just as the image changed to show the approaching Earth, with Earth Spacedock sitting before it.

"Impressive."

"One of the oldest stations in the Federation. ESD is not something you toy with lightly."

"_Spacedock control to USS _Akagi_, you are clear to dock. Welcome home._"

"Good to be home, Spacedock," the helmswoman said. "Beginning docking procedures. "

The tiny ship flew past a number of vessels surrounding the homeworld of humanity, entering Spacedock.

* * *

**Korriban orbit**

* * *

"_Shon, I just spent FIVE HOURS with nutcases on that fucking ship, my powercells are drained to the point where I actually need to regenerate and my doctor's pissed off. What the hell is it?_"

Shon chuckled. "You haven't changed a bit, old friend. What'd you find out about our new 'friends'?"

"_They're persistent, I'll give them that._" Ron said. "_They call themselves the Rakata, part of the Infinite Empire… I tried telling them they're in the future, but they won't believe me._"

"What did you do with them?"

"_Let's just say that what I used my phaser rifle for, it was NOT designed to do. The assholes are currently stuck in a pseudo-black hole in the largest space on the ship._"

Shon's jaw figuratively hit the deck. "…You are VERY imaginative when it comes to trapping people."

"_It's a gift. What happened on the surface? The _Scotia?" Ron asked.

Shon sighed "We encountered an Iconian Gateway… and the crew of the _Scotia _seemed to of been infected by some variant of what Ahsoka called the Rakghoul Plague." He said, "We also believe there is a Devidian presence on Korriban. "

"_I'll send over a team to the_ Nova Scotia _and get her back home. If there's a trace of that plague on board, I'll vaporize the ship. Still, we'd best get back to Earth and brief Command in person._"

"_Agreed. I think our Mandalorian friends might like to meet with the Federation Council, as well. We'll swing by Mandalore before heading to the rift._"

"See you then - _Enterprise _out," Shon said, before the transmission was cut. "Helm, set a course for the rift - time to head home."

* * *

**Earth - San Francisco**

* * *

"Councilwoman, Captain Pinkerton has recommended, for reasons unknown and personal, that the Jedi as a whole are to be kept at arm's length. Any idea why?"

"Knowing him, he's heard something about them that has his hackles up," she said. "I'd suggest treating them with caution, but not paranoia."

"Well, you DID recommend giving him command of the _Ra-Cailum_ after the Vega incident, so you know him better than most of us. We'll follow his recommendation, to a degree."

Ryoko nodded. "More likely than not, we'll find out whatever he discovered sooner or later," she said.

"Most of the Jedi are speaking with the Council now: one or two of them decided to tour the planet, see what it has to offer."

"Are we keeping an eye on them?"

"I have a couple members of my security detail keeping watch," Ryoko informed. "If they get somewhere they don't belong, we'll know."

If anything, though, Jedi were VERY good at staying out of the limelight. They might be able to avoid her security teams.

"Well, if anything odd starts happening-"

The ground under their feet began shaking. Something that hadn't happened in centuries. "Does that count?"

Ryoko turned on the comm terminal next to her seat. "Kyoko, this is Ryoko - any word on what's going on out there?"

"_One of the seismic stabilizers in San Francisco just cut out. Same happened all over the ring of fire, and Japan's been hit hardest._"

"Any chance this was sabotage?"

"_I don't think so. The stabilizers have needed replacement for six years: we just HAVEN'T done it yet._"

Ryoko sighed. "Well, things like this happen, I guess," she said. "Check in on our guests - hopefully that earthquake didn't startle them too badly."

"_Sure thing, Ryoko. Kyoko out._"

Ryoko then sighed again as she stood. "Forgive me for leaving so early," she told the Councilmen and Starfleet Officers in the room, "but I think I should check on my niece - that was likely her first earthquake, so I need to make sure that she didn't get startled or thrown around too badly."

None of them objected as she left the building. "Councilwoman!" An NCO ran over to her, panting. "Sorry… ma'am. I just got here from Command. We just got reports of injuries and damage from all over the Pacific rim. Uh… I'm sorry."

Ryoko wondered what he meant, before her eyes widened. "No…" she breathed. "Tou-san… Kaa-san… Larcei-imouto?"

"Your family compound was hit hard, Councilwoman, like most of the country," the NCO said. "We're gathering as many rescue personnel as possible, but, with all due respect, it's a low priority."

Ryoko sighed again. It sounded cold, she knew, but given all the damage that had been suffered all over the Pacific Rim at the same time, it made some degree of sense, too. "I understand," she said. "I'll have some of my security detail join in - I know Tou-san and Kaa-san would prefer to be rescued later if there was higher priority elsewhere, but I swore to Takeshi-nii and Linda-nee that I would ensure the safety of their daughter, and I'm going to make sure that she's safe."

* * *

**Japan - Yamato compound**

* * *

When the earthquake hit Japan, everyone rushed to give aid to the victims of this accident. That included the Jedi. Two of them arrived mere minutes after the casualty reports started coming in, and, as a favor to the Councilwoman, they decided to see if they could aid her family.

"It's bad… but at least it's not like Ennth," the Zabrak Jedi said, as they walked through the debris. "Maybe the Federation might be able to use their technology to help the people there - they get hit by groundquakes, tidal waves, and volcanic eruptions every eight years..."

"We should ask if they can help." They began to prod the area using the Force, looking for survivors. They found a number of them, but they were too deep in the debris for them to free alone. One signature was close to the surface, however.

The two Jedi used the Force to clear the rubble away from the survivor, revealing an infant, a girl, less than one year old.

"She's just a child…" The Zabrak muttered as he picked up the baby, noticing something in seconds. The child was Force-Sensitive. Not an AMAZING Force Sensitive like Anakin Skywalker or Master Yoda, but more adept than anyone else they had encountered in this universe.

"She is strong with the Force…" the Zabrak muttered with a slight nod. "Her family was likely killed during the quake…"

"Master…" The second Jedi began to say.

"We must take her back to the temple as soon as we can," the Zabrak said. "The last thing we want would be for Dooku to find out about her, and start training her in the Dark Side of the Force."

"Yes, Master." The two Jedi considered aiding the survivors trapped under the ruins of the complex, but the arrival of a trio of Type-7 shuttlecraft shot that idea down quickly as they began putting down nearby. The Force had guided them to that child so she could be trained by the Order. It was that simple.

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

_Captain's Log, stardate 86795.7: we have arrived back in our universe after a brief detour to pick up several representatives of the Mandalorian Union. Our report to Starfleet Command is NOT going to make things easier for Operation Hippogriff._

* * *

"I take it, Jaden, that you haven't taken a trip to Earth?" Ron asked the son of Mand'alor.

"Haven't had the chance - been helping dad with Mandalorian issues," Jaden said sighing as he leaned back in his seat. "We've been pretty busy lately. Dad's been working on merging Mandalore's three main manufacturing companies - MandalMotors, Mandal Hypernautics, and MandalTech into Mandal Heavy Industries to centralize and conserve resources. While we've been working on Mando variants of Republic and Klingon ships, my dad has made specs for several brand new starships that - quite honestly - would scare lesser men _without _the tech the Klingons gave us." He grinned a bit as he presented a small holoprojector. "Since its been declassified a few days ago, I can show you some of what we've been cooking up if you're interested."

Ron nodded, before Jaden presented to him three starship specs. A Starfighter, a smaller starship, and a _much _larger warship. "I present to you… the _Keldabe-_class Battleship, the _Crusader-_class Corvette, and the _StarViper-_class Attack Platform. The _StarViper _is our counter to Vulture Droids and ARC-170's as well as the fighters in your universe. The _Crusader _is our answer to the Corellian Engineering Corp's CR70 and CR90 series, and the _Keldabe _was designed to surpass the new _Imperator-_class Star Destroyers Kuat has been building. These ships were originally going to take over a decade to build… at least until my dad came into power and got the Klingons as allies. Now these ships are surpassing both our and Klingon expectations."

"It sounds like you're preparing for a war." Ron asked.

"I believe an Earth General named Sun Tzu once said: 'In war you prepare for peace, and iN peace you prepare for war'," Jaden said. "My father is prepared for the Republic and CIS to declare peace… but he has a feeling that once the Clone Wars end, a bigger threat will be on the horizon."

"Well, there IS the fact the Iconians are still around-"

"_Captain, message from Starfleet Command. Code 47._"

The former drone winced. "I HATE it when they pull that."

"What does that mean?" Jaden asked.

"It means I'm the only one that gets to see this, so unless you want to spend the rest of your life in a penal colony for something that'll be public knowledge in a few days-"

"I get it. I get it." Jaden sighed as he stood up "You guys take security WAY too seriously."

"Dominion. War. Read about it."

Jaden left and the monitor activated, displaying the Great Seal of the UFP. "_This is an emergency communiqué. It is not to be discussed with fellow officers unless deemed absolutely necessary. There will be no computer record of said transmission._"

"Understood. Pinkerton, Ronald, captain USS _Ra-Cailum_."

Two faces appeared on the monitor: Admiral Quinn and Takeshi. "Admiral. Take, what the hell is this about? C47's usually used for a two-way comm, not a three-way." Rons said.

Takeshi was doing something he didn't really do all that often: scowling. "_Quinn contacted me with this info first, Ron,_" he said. "_I requested you be brought in because I think I'm going to need some serious intimidation factor for backup._"

"Then what the hell is going-"

"_At 1548 hours, there was a major malfunction in the seismic control network on Earth,_" Quinn informed.

"The regulators have needed to be replaced for years." Ron said, "Just because the SCE is busy-"

"_Captain, the entire ring of fire suffered major earthquakes,_" Quinn interrupted. "_Japan was hit hardest._"

"Considering its' location and the seismic bullshit that Earth is known for, I'm not surprised." Ron said.

"_Ron… my family's home was among the hardest hit by the earthquake,_" Takeshi said. "_Ryoko-imouto was in San Francisco at the time, so she's fine, but they're still trying to find my parents. My daughter, Larcei, was staying with them as well._"

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss, Take, but I'm going to have to ask you to START MAKING SENSE." Ron said. "What does an earthquake have to do with needing my ship for intimidation purposes?"

"_I'm sending you some security footage my sister retrieved from the area,_" Takeshi informed. Soon enough, a third image appeared on the screen - two people, obviously Jedi from how they cleared the rubble out of the way, finding a little baby, holding a brief conversation, then moving away from the area. "_Image enhancement enabled us to confirm it. Ron… that's Larcei. And the Jedi left the planet shortly thereafter, without making any mention of finding a child in the rubble. _They have my daughter, and I'm taking her back!"

The _Ra-Cailum_ suddenly dropped out of warp and spun around at the command of the transceiver in Ron's spine. "They took a high-speed transport, so it's likely they're already back on the other side and en route to Coruscant." Ron said. "I've already informed the Enterprise to join us, and I'm sending a courier Peregrine to get our mission report back to Command: it's too important to send over subspace."

"_Understood,_" Quinn replied.

"_Thanks, Ron,_" Takeshi said. "_It'll be a lot easier with you on station ready to rain down fire from orbit. Prime Directive might not allow this, but this is my daughter we're talking about._"

"Kidnapping, no matter how well intended, is still a crime. I'm not doing this for you: I'm doing it because the law demands it." Ron violently smacked his commbadge. "Pinkerton to bridge: quantum slipstream! Take us back to Coruscant!"

"_See you shortly, Ron,_" Takeshi replied. "_Takeshi out._" His image disappeared from the monitor.

Ron growled before he opened the door. "Jaden, I might need your help," he said, as Jaden walked in.

"What happened?" Jaden asked, noticing the rather… pissed off look Ron had around him.

"The Jedi Order just abducted Takeshi's daughter." Ron growled out. "We're getting her back."

Jaden paused for a moment, before he growled. "Goddamnit, didn't they learn their lesson from the Baby Ludi case?!" he shouted.

Ron blinked. "Wait, this happened _before?!_" he shouted.

"Yeah, the Baby Ludi custody case." Jaden said, "A Groundquake hit Ord Thoden, and a Jedi rescue team found a baby in the rubble - Ludi Billani. They assumed her parents were dead, so they took her in to be trained in the Force since she was Force Sensitive… problem was, her mother - Jonava Billane - was still alive. She traveled all the way to Coruscant to see her Daughter again and bring her home since she was all she had left after the quake… but the Jedi council wouldn't even let her see her. Hell, they went ahead and gave the girl a new name - Aris Del Wari. It lead to a huge controversy which got 25 _billion_ sympathizers across the galaxy on talk show Essance, which just multiplied when she broke down in tears… it's what really sparked the Anti-Jedi Controversy across the galaxy now days. After all, would _you _trust someone who can just take your child away with no legal repercussions?"

"Oh, not this time," Ron growled out. "Not. This. Time. There shall be a reckoning, and if I have any say about it, I will be its' fucking _**HARBINGER**_! The Jedi Order is about to learn a VERY valuable lesson." His voice suddenly gained a demonic edge to it. "You do not FUCK with the United Federation of Planets and _**GET AWAY WITH IT**_."

* * *

**Coruscant**

* * *

A general feeling of unease was felt throughout the temple, and for once, Barriss was NOT the source. Most of the Starfleet personnel were staying away from the older Jedi, giving them VERY dirty glares. But not her, for some reason. She wasn't complaining: she liked the Starfleet people.

"Unbelievable. What in the FUCK are they THINKING?!"

Barris blinked as she saw a Federation engineer who was working on one of the archives. "Uhh, excuse me?" Barris said, catching his attention. "A… lot of the Starfleet personnel are giving the Masters… nasty looks, to put it lightly. What happened?"

"One of your… ESTEEMED Masters kidnapped a toddler from Earth," the Engineer growled out. "The transport's already on its' way down here, so we couldn't stop it when we got the message." She 'accidentally' fried a data cable leading to several terminals, childishly taking no small amount of glee in inconveniencing the kidnappers of children, if only for a few hours. "Why in the hell did he do it? Don't you take adults in for training?"

Barriss was about to reply before she saw Jocasta Nu, mistress of the Archives, approach with a look stating that she wasn't pleased with what just happened.

"The Jedi do not accept Adults for training, not unless the situation demands it," Jocasta said. "We train our Jedi up from infancy so they can be trained without corruption from the Dark Side of the Force. A Child's mind is more accepting to the teachings of the force."

"That doesn't mean you can KIDNAP someone!" The engineer shouted.

"We are opening her mind to the Force, Ensign," Jocasta said. "That is reason enough."

"You're fucking _indoctrinated_," the Ensign engineer snarled. "You think you're doing the right thing, but you're just allowing your damned _cult _to grow!" The archivist's brow twitched. "That's right, Master Nu. Only sociopaths and cultists kidnap and basically brainwash little children-"

"We do not _brainwash _them!" Master Nu retorted. "We teach them the enlightened path of the force! We must do this to ensure balance in the Force, lest Dark Jedi try to throw the galaxy into chaos yet again!"

"Really?" The Starfleet ensign asked. "I know a few old cults on Earth that taught people from a VERY young age. Some had the same goals as the Jedi. In the end, they all committed mass suicide. I'm not saying you should turn into a bunch of mass murderers; I'm saying UP THE FREAKING AGE REQUIREMENT. Give them a choice to be Jedi, not make the choice for them!"

"If you had seen what the Dark Side could do to an unprepared mind, you would not say such things," Master Nu said. "We train them from such a young age just to prepare them, teach them the Jedi code and take it to heart. They must be taught that there is no emotion - there is peace, there is no ignorance, there is knowledge. The code must be instilled at a young age, lest we end up turning out like the rebellious 'Green' Jedi from Corellia."

The engineer giggled for a moment before using an accent none of them had heard before. "It's green. Ah, no one measures up to the Flying Scotsman nowadays. But seriously, that's an EXTREMELY rigid code. Even the Vulcans aren't THAT strict with their emotions. Even Starfleet's regulations aren't THAT bad." Her eyes narrowed. "You're sounding more and more like a bunch of religious whackjobs the more I talk to you."

"You have never had to deal with the Force in your universe," the Jedi librarian said with narrowed eyes. "You have not seen what the Force can do to an unprepared mind - it can corrupt them, _destroy _them without proper guidance. An Adult's mind simply is not properly prepared!"

"It's plenty prepared if you take the time!" The Ensign shouted. "Adults have a hell of a lot more patience than children, even 'blank slates'. Think about that. And while you're thinking, Master Nu, think about the shit the Jedi Order is in now. You kidnapped a child from the capital of the Federation. We don't take kindly to people kidnapping outside the Federation; how do you think we take kidnappings IN our space? You have made the BIGGEST mistake of your order's history!"

The Jedi Master scoffed. "The Temple hasn't been attacked directly since the great galactic war," she said. "Plus the greatest masters of the order are here. No one would dare attack the temple - not even your Federation."

"You would think so."

A high-pitched whine was heard of the PA system. "_Attention, assholes. This is Captain Ronald Pinkerton of the _Ra-Cailum_. Don't bother greeting back: this will be short and sour. In two minutes, a Type-10 shuttle from the _Raging Tempest _will be en route to pick up the captain's _**daughter**_. If she is not there by the time her father arrives, we will consider this a hostile action. You have 120 seconds to comply, or I make what happened to the Jedi Temple during the Sacking of Coruscant look like a LEAF FALLING FROM A TREE! Thank you for your time._"

"You were saying?" the Ensign asked with a smirk.

"He's bluffing," Master Nu said with a scoff. "He won't dare open fire-"

The temple shook slightly as SOMETHING hit one of the towers. Judging from the color, it was a low-grade phaser beam. "I used to work for that guy." The ensign said. "When he makes threats, he doesn't bluff. He threatened the Devidians with a phase-shifted thalaron weapon once to make them piss off. He activated it to prove he wasn't bluffing."

The Librarian said nothing… mostly because she was now running to wherever the masters were to figure out how they were going to get out of _this _mess. Leaving Barriss and the Ensign alone.

"I believe you people from earth have a saying… called 'Karma's a bitch, ain't it,'" Barris asked, as the Ensign chuckled. "I think this situation applies, does it not?"

"You bet your ass it does," The ensign said grinning.

* * *

**Shuttlecraft **_**Cyclone**_ **\- inbound to Jedi Temple**

* * *

"Well, they know two things now: I'm pissed off AND I'm serious. My crew is standing by for the backup plan should Plans A and B fail."

"Hopefully they won't be needed," Takeshi said, a MACO Phaser Pulsewave weapon on his back and his katana sheathed at his waist. Linda carried her TR-116B, and with them were the _Raging Tempest_'s CMO, Mogire Kostran, and a full team of Security and Assault Squad personnel, all of whom were loaded down as if for war. "If they don't give her back as soon as we land, we just tear through the Temple until we find her."

"That's Plan C." The shuttlecraft made its' approach, landing on the very doorstep of the Temple, where Mace Windu was waiting for them. And he did NOT look happy.

Of course, Takeshi met him scowl for scowl as he marched out of the shuttle, drawing his Katana as he went, even as Linda brought up her TR-116 and the other Security/Assault Team Personnel drew their own weapons. "I'm not in the best of moods right now, Master Windu," he growled. "So I'll only ask this once. Where. Is. My. Daughter?"

"Her mind has already been opened up to the Force," Mace said, not even flinching. "We can't just-"

There was a sound of a _Snap-hiss _of a Lightsaber being activated, as also emerging from the Shuttle was none other than Jaden Takeo in full Mandalorian Supercommando armor, with a pair of Katana-shaped Lightsabers in his hand designed after the Darksaber, each one red with a black core, and a glaring look that would kill lesser men. "You are _going _to give the man his daughter back, Windu," Jaden growled. "The Galaxy has just about had _enough _of your bullshit. Her mind is opened to the force now? Fine. When she is old enough, and with Takeshi's permission, _I _will teach her how to use it… _PROPERLY,_ not your fucking archaic biased point of view."

"The child is going no-"

"Mind if I interject?" A hologram of Captain Pinkerton appeared. "Master Windu. Allow me to reintroduce myself." His face twisted into a calm rage. "Hello. My name is Ronald Pinkerton. You kidnapped my friend's daughter. Prepare. To. Die. You have exactly 30 seconds to get in that ziggurat and get Larcei out here, or I will turn your nest of vipers into a smoking. massive. fucking. CRATER. That's AFTER I force her and whoever else you took from their families from you. I have 30 photon torpedoes locked onto your temple's coordinates. ALL of them will make the temple NOT EXIST."

"I suggest listening to them," Jaden said with narrowed eyes. "The Republic will tolerate your bullshit… the Federation and the Mandalorians will _not._"

"Why do you want that child to grow up ignorant, Captain?" Mace asked.

"Because if she stays with you, she'll be little more than a Borg drone that isn't slaved to a hive mind, but to a code that is LONG out of date." Ron growled out. "I KNOW what that's like, and I'm not subjecting ANYONE to it. Hand her over before I MAKE you."

"Windu…" Jaden said. "The Republic may tolerate the Jedi's bullshit… but not the Federation. Just hand her over. Takeshi gets his daughter back, while your Temple doesn't get leveled to the ground. Win-win. Take it or die."

"…The Chancellor will hear of this."

"Windu, be glad we're not Klingons," Ron said. "The only reason I fired was to make you realize that I am NOT playing around."

"Give us the kid," Jaden said, twirling his lightsabers once. "_Now._"

"…Very well. If Captain Pinkerton can refrain destroying the Temple-"

"You have 45 seconds," Ron said. "Forty four. Forty three-" one of the more terrified Jedi ran back into the temple. Both Mandalorian and Terran looked at Ron. "You are a VERY scary negotiator," Jaden said.

"I prefer ultimatums when it comes to kidnappers."

"Never said I was complaining," Jaden said smirking. "It gets results, can't argue with that."

The hologram held up three fingers before counting down. They wondered why, until… "_This is Admiral Ushiromiya to Captains Yamato and Pinkerton! What the HELL are you people thinking?!_"

"Uh… who the hell was that?"

"My old XO, Ange Ushiromiya. She got promoted to Admiral, and now she's in charge of all Starfleet affairs in this universe."

Takeshi sighed, before tapping his commbadge. "Look, Admiral, normally I'd apologize, but I do _**not**_ play around when people I care about are in danger or have been kidnapped - especially my daughter."

"_That does NOT excuse my old CO's orbital bombardment of the Jedi Temple! Get your asses to the Chancellor's office, NOW. And bring the Mandalorian: he probably encouraged that, so he's not getting away with it._"

"Nope - All Ron's idea," Jaden said, shrugging. "I just came along for the show and to act as… intimidation."

"Hey, you should be glad he didn't disable the transporter inhibitors long enough to beam down a Photon Torpedo set to timer detonation," Takeshi snarked.

"_He's done that before._"

Both men looked at Ron, who smirked. "Tis what I do."

"...are you _SURE _you're not related to a Mandalorian?" Jaden asked.

* * *

**Chancellor's Office - 30 minutes later**

* * *

"Do you know HOW many regulations you broke? NOT including the Prime Directive?!"

"I KNOW, Ange, but they kidnapped a child from EARTH. We needed to put our foot down and make our position known."

"And Admiral, I know it's called the Prime Directive, but my daughter's safety is _**very**_ important to me - it's why I left her on Earth with my family in the first place. So when I heard she was essentially kidnapped by the Jedi, Prime Directive or not, I was getting her _**back**_." As a point of fact, Larcei was currently in the arms of her mother, Linda, who was standing behind Takeshi in the office.

"Everyone, please!" Palpatine raised his hands placatingly. "I agree that the Jedi had no business in taking young Yamato, but it is their way to take in orphans who are Force sensitive."

"Yeah, but Larcei was NOT an Orphan!" Jaden snapped back at the Chancellor. "Her parents are still alive! They just took her without consulting the Federation or the Yamato family! You may tolerate this shit, Chancellor, but the Federation isn't like your corrupt Republic!"

"They should've bothered to CHECK who the baby was first." Ron snapped. "Maybe I should introduce them to-"

"Enough!" the Federation Admiral shouted. "Captain, I'm reassigning you both to Mandalore to oversee the security arrangements for their Federation embassy. You'll get along there. Try not to cause ANOTHER diplomatic incident."

"They'll be warmly greeted there," Jaden said nodding, as he turned for the exit. "See you in orbit Ron. Takeshi, may you and your wife join me?"

Takeshi nodded as he and Linda - still carrying Larcei - followed Jaden, leaving Ron in the Chancellor's office.

"You said you could train Larcei to use the Force, right?" Takeshi asked, and Jaden nodded.

"Yes, if that is what you and your wife wants - and if Larcei agrees once she is old enough," Jaden said. "The Mandalorian Knights are still fairly knew after my dad set them up, with barely a dozen masters. We'd be more than happy to show her the way of the force _without _the biased opinion of either the Jedi or Sith. When her training is complete, if she goes through with it, she will be given the choice of staying with the Knights, or if she wishes to return to the Federation and Starfleet. The Mando Knights are not like the Jedi - anyone can join or leave whenever they want, and if you want to help with her training there would be no issues."

Linda looked a bit unsure. "Would she be safe?" she asked, and Jaden sighed.

"For the most part yes… but I will be training her like a Mando," he said. "My people have a saying… Ke barjurir gar'ade, jagyc'ade kot'la a dalyc'ade kotla'shya. In basic, it means: 'Train your sons to be strong but your daughters to be stronger.' If Larcei accepts, she will be put through the wringer…" he smiled a bit. "But when her training is done, she would emerge as a strong warrior with the Force as her ally. And as I said - you and your husband are more than welcomed to help in her training."

Takeshi nodded. "Thanks," he said. "We'll definitely see what she thinks when she's old enough, but I'm alright with it right now." Linda, though she was still rather hesitant and worried, did give a nod.

Thumps were heard as Ron ran up behind them. "Gentlemen, there's something you should know." He said. "You know that I have a cybernetic eye that can act as a sort of visual tricorder, yes?"

Jaden rose an eyebrow, and nodded. "Yeah, I heard you mention it once." He said, "What about it?"

"I saw triolic energy inside the Chancellor's body." Ron said. "The Devidians aren't on Korriban: there's nothing there to take neural energy from."

Jaden rose an eyebrow. "Are you saying Palpatine is a force user?" he asked. "Or that he's connected to the Devidians? 'Cause either one sounds down-right crazy… "

"The tombs in the Valley of the Dark Lords have a great deal of triolic energy, with no sign of the Devidians down there," Ron said. "There's only one way to find out if this theory is right."

"That being?"

"We need a dark side artifact to take a detailed scan of." Ron said.

"Hmm… the Jedi Temple may have a few locked up…" Jaden mused, "Though I doubt now would be a good time to ask them for one… the best place to get a Sith artifact now would be one of the former Sith Worlds like Korriban, Ziost, Dromund Kaas, or Thule… but that's assuming there are any artifacts _left _that haven't been plundered years ago…"

"There's always somewhere." Ron said. "We'll set up those security measures on Mandalore, then we'll go hunting."

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied.

"I'll go through some records once we get to Mandalore," Jaden said. "The Mandalorians have their own archives at Keldabe, dating back as far as the Great Sith War. Considering how the Mandalorians and Sith used to work together often thousands of years ago, I might find something there."

"Then we'll head back to our ships and head to Mandalore."

* * *

**Raxus**

* * *

Dooku looked at the design of the new ships they would be producing to field against Starfleet's armada. They took some hints from their _Sao Paulo_-Class, but they were unmanned droids, flown by a _Vulture_-Class fighter built into the dorsal side. A grand total of 48 turbolaser cannons were mounted in the forward section, with a class-4 shield generator protecting the craft from enemy fire. And at 130 meters, they were small enough to 'dance' with Starfleet's far more agile ships: even the _Odyssey_-Class outturned most of their fleet.

This was just the start, as they were already beginning a massive refit of all CIS vessels - _Munificent-_class Star Frigates, _Reclucant-_class Destroyers, _Providence-_class Carriers, even _Lukrehulk-_class Battleships were hastily being retrofit with armor, weapons and shielding to be capable of standing on par with mainstay Federation vessels. They were not perfect of course, but they would at least allow them to stand a better chance against the Federation or Klingons than they would normally. At least until the could begin building a more dedicated starship for such battles from the ground up.

He activated the comm, and the face of one of his scientists appeared on the holo. "Doctor, I need an update on the upgrades to our shielding."

"_Yes, Count. It is still progressing slowly: we won't have a proper prototype ready for testing for at least another year._"

"At the rate we are going, we don't HAVE a year," Dooku stressed.

"_Unless you want to raid a Federation shipyard and steal one of their generators…_"

Dooku sighed, he hated to admit it but he was right - the Federation won't just give them a Warp Core, and stealing one would be foolish. The last thing they need is to start an official war with the Federation. Their best bet was to take a warp core from an older Federation ship, while it was alone. It still would not be easy however…

"How many Federation ships are on this side?" A second image, that of the known galaxy, appeared, with a small number of ships bearing the mark of the UFP Great Seal. There was only one ship on their side that fit the bill, as it were: the USS _Brattain_ NCC-21166. The ship was older than anything on their side, and it was THE weakest ship there. The _Miranda_-Class was known for two things: massive numbers… and exploding. A LOT.

But, a Federation starship was still a Federation starship. If Dooku played his cards right, they can get the ship and pin the blame on pirates, not the CIS. It isn't uncommon for Pirates to use captured CIS starships and droids afteral.

"Contact General Grievous. I believe I have a job for him."

* * *

**Mandalore**

* * *

"The embassy was easy enough to build: it's a prefab for the moment," Ron said, as he, Takeshi and Jaden were now in orbit of the planet. "We'll worry about a more permanent one later. How are the KDF yards in orbit?"

"So far, they're doing great," Jaden said. "Most of them have been completed, and are already chugging out Starships with help from Mandal Heavy Industries - the company made from the merger between MandalMotors, MandalTech, and Mandal Hypernautics. We've begun mining Beskar from across the sector, using it to help reinforce the armor of the ships even more. There isn't much Tritanium in our universe so we need to import it from yours for now, but we're making up for it by using Beskar and Duranium together for a damn good substitute. It'll work until we find a more reliable source of Tritanium here. We've already begun building our own Mandalore sector defense grid a well to help ward off pirates, CIS, or anyone else."

"You don't have that much of the stuff left." Ron said.

"We've been mining it for thousands of years: what did you expect?" Jaden retorted. "Survey's found a few more sizeable deposits deep under Mandalore's surface… but getting to them is gonna take time considering how deep they are."

Ron handed Jaden a PADD. "We can easily chemically alter normal iron into the shit, so long as we have a sample of it to analyze," he said. "Tritanium is hard to do. Iron? Not so much."

"Thanks, I'll send you a sample when I can." Jaden said nodding. "We need all the advantages we can-" Jaden was interrupted when his wrist COMM activated. "Hang on a sec..." Jaden activated the Comm. "Jaden here, what's-" he began to say before he was cut off. "Dad? What's going on? Wait… she said what?" Jaden's eyes narrowed "Got it, I'll tell him now." He turned off the comm. "Ron, we have a situation. "

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"A… friend of my Dad's was commanding forces at the battle of Ringo Vinda," Jaden said. "The battle was going well… until a Clone Trooper from the 501st killed Jedi Master Tiplar."

"Considering that the Jedi Order isn't in my good books at the moment, I could care less about the death." Ron said. "But aren't clone troopers supposed to obey the orders of their Jedi commanders, and voice concerns, not kill them?"

"That's the problem," Jaden said, as he pulled out his holorecorder. "This is a recording from the battle Dad sent me - check it out. It's got audio." The Holorecord began playing, as the battle played out before them - GAR Clones advancing against the CIS forces, lead by Anakin, Obi-wan and two female Jedi. However it zoomed in on one Clone Trooper acting… oddly, rubbing his head before taking his helmet off, revealing a rather dazed look as he looked at Master Tiplar.

"_Jedi…_" The Clone muttered, his eyes narrowing. "_Good soldiers… follow orders…_" he then proceeded to walk almost as if in a trance towards the Jedi Master, moved behind her, and executed her right on the spot.

"From what my dad's friend said, The Clone had no memory of the event. And he would relapse constantly saying 'Good soldiers follow orders' over and over again… he even tried to kill Master Tiplee after he was captured, saying the same thing."

"Conditioning." Ron said, as his eyes narrowed. "Something in him was programmed to kill a Jedi. Jaden, I'm going to leave a few of my security personnel behind: this is too important to ignore. I know how it works, so I might be able to find out why this happened."

"Good luck, Ron," Takeshi said. "I'll stay here at Mandalore - I'd rather not get into close proximity with a Jedi if I can help it, even good Jedi like Master Kenobi."

"Right," Jaden said with a nod. "My dad is investigating this personally - he was a member of Cuy'val Dar - the group that trained the Clones, so he has some contacts among the Kaminoans who owe him. I need to stay here, take care of things while he's gone."

Ron nodded before he disappeared in a column of light. "Ok, him being able to do that without talking is REALLY fucking creepy!" Jaden shouted.

* * *

The CO of the Ra-Cailum reappeared on his bridge, spooking one of the newer members of the crew. "Riza, set course for Rengo Vinda, maximum speed. There's something going on, and I plan to find out what."

"Aren't we on probation?"

"We're helping people, which is what we do. Punch it."

The _Ra-Cailum_ banked at Riza's command before jumping into hyperspace and quantum slipstream.

* * *

**Rengo Vinda - orbit**

* * *

"The shuttle was attacked?" Sutura asked.

"_It seems so, Ma'am,_" Anakin said on the holoscreen. "_Tup is missing, I think it's safe to say the Separatists captured him._"

Sutura hummed in thought. "They will have to try and get him past the blockade to get him to CIS lines…" she said, "Master Skywalker, you take two of your men and get him back - I want answers, and I want them ASAP."

"_We'll get him back, Admiral,_" The image disappeared, and was replaced with Tulam's face.

"_Admiral, we've heard one of your men has gone missing. Captain Shon requested that we take a look into their strange behavior as soon as we heard about it. Do you require assistance?_"

"The Separatists have captured Tup - the Clone Trooper who shot Master Tulpaa," Sutura said. "We are working on a plan to recapture him now. I'd ask if you could just transport him over here with that transporter beam the Federation has, but I doubt your prime directive would allow that - I know the Federation doesn't want to get itself dragged into this war, and the Separatists would take such an action as an act of the Federation allying itself with the Republic. But once we get him back, we're taking him to Kamino. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I would like for your ship to escort the medical frigate en-route there… I want to _avoid _what happened last time from happening again. And I think a Federation escort will be more than enough to tell the Sep's to buzz off."

"We'll be ready to escort the transport as soon as-"

One of the clones off to the side stood up. "Admiral, Federation starship incoming: _Sovereign_-Class. IFF confirms it to be the _Ra-Cailum_, and they're hailing us."

Sutura resisted smirking. It was about time that someone gave the Jedi a taste of their own medicine without killing anyone. "Put them through, audio only."

A moment later, the voice of the _Ra-Cailum_'s CO came through. "Ra-Cailum _to Admiral Renau. We heard you had a bit of a clone problem. We're here to help find out why._"

"Glad you could be here, Captain Pinkerton," She said. "The Separatists have captured the Clone who shot Tulpaa, but we are in the process of rescuing him. Once he's back in our hands, we'll be escorting him to Kamino."

"_The facilities on board the Ra-Cailum are just as good at finding out what the hell happened as the Kaminoan ones, Admiral,_" Ron said. "_All we need to do is get that son of a bitch on board._"

Sutura sighed. "Believe me, if it were just my choice I'd hand him over to you," she said. "But the Republic - and in extension to them the Jedi - don't quite like you after that stunt you pulled at Coruscant. Believe me, I fully support what you did… but the rest of Republic HIGHCOM disagrees. You're more than welcome to help escort Tup… I might be able to convince them to have one of your medical personnel give him a look over once we arrive at Kamino though. "

"_Very well, Admiral, but if shit goes south, the clone's coming with us._" Ron said. "_Best to be safe then sorry._"

"Hopefully It won't come to that," Sutura said nodding. "By the way, I thought that you were… on probation in Mandalorian Space?"

"_I elected to do something more meaningful than honor guard duty. Helping an ally is better than wasting time in a position as a glorified watchdog over a planet that doesn't NEED our presence when they've got the Klingons to aid them._"

Sutura chuckled a bit. "Your help is appreciated either way, Captain," she said. "I'll keep you posted once I hear back from Anakin."

"_Understood, Admiral. _Ra-Cailum _out._" The link cut out, and Sutura had the sneaking suspicion that he wasn't saying everything. It probably wouldn't hurt her in the end, so she didn't think about it.

* * *

"She's Jaden and Amy's mother." Ron said the moment the Comm went off.

Sonja chuckled at her CO's proclamation. "Oh? how'd you figure that out, Sherlock?" She asked.

"Children have a slightly similar vocal pattern to their parent." He explained, "And because I'm got a brain that works a million times faster than most other races in the known multiverse, I quickly figured it out. Won't trouble her or them with it over a public line: they're hiding it for a reason."

"Well, their father _is _Mand'alor - leader of the Mandalorians," Corpsa said shrugging. "And _she _is an Admiral in the Republic. Not only that, but a _damn good _Admiral. I've looked at her service records - she's been keeping the Gordian Reach secured from Separatist invasion with _obsolete _equipment for four years straight, going up against enemy commanders like General Grevious, and Admiral Trench just to name a few. But as you know the Warrior clans of Mandalore and the Republic never have exactly been on… good terms. Maybe they're keeping it secret to ensure Sutura's career in the Republic isn't ruined… she seems dedicated to protecting the people of this universe no matter what…"

"My mother was a JAG and my father was a former Maquis, and I don't give no fucks."

"Both of them fought in the Dominion War, sir."

Ron waved it off. "Start tracking down any ships remotely linked to the CIS that have left the system in the past 96 hours," he said. "I want that clone back in custody."

* * *

Thankfully though, the mission went off without a hitch as Anakin, Rex, and Fives were able to find and rescue Tup, as once they arrived they loaded Tup onto a more well-defended _Consular-_class Frigate, with the _Ra Cailum _waiting to escort them.

"Do you think the cloners would be able to help him?" Anakin asked, as Tup was loaded up.

"While they nearly turned the Jedi Temple into a smoking ruin, the _Ra-Cailum_ is closer, and they have facilities that are just as good, Anakin." Obi-wan said."We might just need to take them up on their offer."

"It's like the Admiral said, though," Anakin said. "The Republic doesn't trust the _Ra Cailum_ after what they pulled… we'll be lucky if they'll allow them to bring one of their scientists with us."

"Well, we DID sort of bring it on ourselves." Obi-wan did NOT approve of what happened. Larcei Yamato belonged with her family. They were overzealous in bringing her to Coruscant, and while Ron's reaction was… extreme, he knew exactly what it felt like to have everything robbed from oneself due to his near-decade of captivity with the borg: he felt more than justified to do what he did.

"Either way, the decision seems to have already been made," Anakin said with a sigh as Rex and Fives entered the transport. "I have a bad feeling about this, though, Master..."

"Ra-Cailum _to transport vessel: we'll escort you directly to Kamino. I want answers as to what in the hell is going on, and I'm going to get them._"

"Understood, _Ra-Cailum_. We feel a LOT safer with you around."

"_Keep your sarcasm to yourselves. We have a job to do._"

* * *

**Later - Kamino**

* * *

The _Ra-Cailum _and the republic medical transport dropped out of hyperspace, as they were greeted by the sight of the Republic world of Kamino, protected by an armada of star destroyers defending it from any possible CIS attacks. The medical transport headed towards the surface, as a shuttle from the _Ra Cailum _headed down as well.

Both craft braved the storms of the waterworld, heading for Topica city, with the _Delta Flyer_-Class _Osiris_ trailing just behind the transport. "_Ra-Cailum_ shuttlecraft _Osiris_ to air traffic control: request permission to land."

"_Permission granted, Captain. Be advised that the _Enterprise _will be joining your ship in orbit in five hours._"

"Understood, control," Riza said, as she continued to fly the shuttle down, landing at the closest empty landing pad under all of the rain.

"This place reminds me of Risa without the earthquakes. It's a good thing that I upped the resistance on the controls, or else this thing would be on the ocean floor." The shuttle landed beside the transport, and both grabbed compression rifles. They weren't exactly trusting of the GAR at the moment.

The shuttle landed, as Ron stepped out of the shuttle alongside Rutia. After getting out of the rain, they stepped into the white hallways of the Kamino city, and they were mildly surprised when Aren Takeo approached them. "Captain Pinkerton," he said, nodding. "Glad to see you again."

"Mand'alor," Ron said, nodding. "Your son mentioned you were here."

"I was part of the Cuy'val Dar training division who trained the GAR," Aren said. "I've trained the Clones, so aside from the Kaminoans, I know the most 'bout them. I want to figure out what is going on just as much as you do."

"Good thing we have two experts in mental conditioning."

"Two?" Aren asked, as Ron pointed at Rutia.

"Her Academy graduate thesis was on Jem'Hadar mental conditioning and I am a former Borg drone with the medical knowledge of at least 2654 medical practitioners. I think we're OVERqualified."

"Good," Aren said as he and the two Starfleet officers moved down the halls. "Something is _not _right here, Captain… I have agents in the CIS, the Sep's _have _been trying to make a Clone Virus, but its been a failure at every attempt. Plus, Viruses don't make you shoot your Commanding Officers… at least in our universe."

"They don't in ours, either." Ron said. "This is mental conditioning. From conception."

"You're sure about that?" Aren asked.

"The Dominion has their own clone army: the Jem'Hadar." He said, "They obey their orders without fail, and they're addicted to a substance known as ketracel white. This army does nothing but remind me of them."

"Clones are trained at birth to be loyal to the Republic, true," Aren said. "But they have enough individuality to be able to think for themselves… but my friend Kal has been reporting some… other strange things… "

"Like?" Rutia asked.

"During the Battle of Haurgab, the 14th Infantry Brigade fought CIS forces on the planet." Aren said, "But the way they were fighting… they weren't fighting like GAR Troopers… they were disregarding everything me, Kal, Walon, and the other trainers taught them. They weren't taking cover, their accuracy was abysmal… hell, Delta told me they weren't even using Mando'a in the slightest. Every GAR Clone knows how to speak Mando'a, it was something Jango had hammered into their training."

"What does your friend think about that?" Ron asked.

"The 14th wasn't from Kamino," Aren said. "Someone's making another clone army for the Republic… which should be impossible, since the Republic passed a law making Kamino and any Kaminoan colonies the only places GAR Troopers may be bred and trained at. But that brings up a whole new row of questions - why make a bunch of sub-par Clones, and why make them so secret? On top of that… things haven't been adding up for the GAR. Where did the funding for all of their starships come from? Weapons? Supplies? The GAR almost _literally_ came out of nowhere as far as the rest of the galaxy knows. The Kaminoans say Jedi Master Sifo-Dias and Lord Tyrannus commissioned the GAR… but the Jedi have no records of Sifo-Dias making such an order, and we've got no records of a Lord Tyrannus."

"That's a corruption of Greek." Ron said. "And the 'Lord' indicates someone of noble status. Or..."

"Or?"

"The second Sith Lord's title is Tyrannus," Ron said. "We already know of someone called Darth Sidious. And your son was kind enough to allow me to scan Darth Maul. My theory was correct: dark side users generate triolic energy, albeit in small enough amounts that don't kill them, and their bodies even adapt to it."

"I don't like where this is going."

"Like it or not, it's possible that this is a hell of a plan designed to destroy the Jedi Order. When was the last confirmed Sith Lord before Maul was brought down?"

"Darth Bane," Aren said. "We know very little about him… during the New Sith Wars the title of Darth was considered abolished by the new Sith, trying to share their power rather than having a single figure to embody it. Bane didn't agree with that idea, and he plotted the destruction of the new sith during the last Battle of Ruusan… thanks to the thought bomb, many Jedi and most of the new sith were killed. But Bane escaped… began his own Sith order, establishing the Rule of Two."

"Rule of Two?" Rutia asked.

"One Master, one Apprentice," Aren said. "One to possess power, the other to crave it. It was a system where basically, the apprentice was destined to one day betray the master after accumulating enough power. Afterwards the apprentice becomes the master, and the cycle begins again…"

"Pure insanity." Ron said. "Neither side of the coin considers what the hell they're doing to the galaxy at large! The Jedi have great intentions, but their code is so out of date and twisted beyond hope, it's not funny! The Sith? I have no idea WHAT their original intent was, and right now, I don't care. This is a threat to the security of the Federation, as well as Mandalore and every other sovereign power in both galaxies. And you might not like what I'm about to tell you."

"I always appreciate information, Captain," Aren said. "It is ignorance that I do not tolerate. What is it?"

"Palpy-boy-" Aren resisted laughing at the term used for the Chancellor. "Had a large amount of triolic energy inside his body. Even the fucking Devidians didn't have levels that high. I think Palpatine should be top of the list when if comes to Sith Lord suspects."

Aren hummed in thought, glancing around making sure no one was listening. "It would make some sense… but no one'd believe something like that, even coming from the Federation," he said. "Palpatine has become a beloved figure in the Republic, very few actual opponents… but if this is true, if he _is _a Sith, that puts him in a perfect position… officially commanding the Republic, while secretly guiding the CIS, allowing him to keep the war going for as long as he wants… "

"That means we're going to have to be careful." Ron said. "The Federation Council will push for a more active role in this universe once they and the President are informed."

"What makes you think they'll believe you?" Aren asked. "Your reputation isn't exactly great right now."

"I don't lie to my superiors unless ordered to BY my superiors. They know that." Ron said.

"Maybe… but what about your Prime Directive?" Aren asked, "Doesn't that prevent you from getting involved unless the Republic were part of your Federation? To be honest, I doubt that'll happen - the Republic's filled with Corruption, the senators and members of the republic wouldn't want to join an organization that's money-free."

"It's their choice," Ron said. "But I've got the right to find out what the hell is going on if it remotely represents a threat to my country and inform the right people to do their fucking jobs and FIX IT."

"I agree," Aren said, before the two entered the room where Tup was being handled in, with Master Shaak Ti and the Kaminoan Nala Se. "Nala Se, it's been a while."

"That it has, Aren," Nala Se said with a nod. "Or should I refer to you as Mand'alor now?"

Aren shook his head. "While I am here, I'm not Mand'alor," he said. "Just another Cuy'val Dar Trainer taking care of his men. So what do we know so far?"

"Nothing abnormal as of yet." Nala said.

"The man shot his general using subliminal programing," Ron said. "I'd say that's a problem. Knew we should've done this on the _Ra-Cailum_."

"And… who are you, sir? A new Republic officer?"

"No. Captain Ronald Pinkerton, United Federation of Planets starship _Ra-Cailum_."

"Ah… of course," Nala Se said. "We were just about to begin the hypertest." She glanced at one of the Droids "Administer the stimuli, and remove his mask."

A droid placed an injector on Tup's chest, which sent warning bells through the doctor's head. "That's a bad idea."

"Are you a doctor, miss-"

"Commander Rutia Yulanra, and yes, I am!" She said. "Probably a hell of a lot better doctor than YOU are." The droid removed the mask covering Tup's face, and the clone immediately began having a seizure. "Called it. Boss, can you get me the medical kit from-"

"Done."

The medical kit materialized on the floor in a shower of light before she took out a tricorder and a hypospray. "30ccs of Anesthizine will put him back under so we can do this WITHOUT killing him." She put the hypo beside his neck, then injected the sedative into Tup's body, putting him back under. "Were you TRYING to kill him?"

"A Hyperscan may not be pleasant, but it gives us the information we need quickly," Nala Se said calmly. "It would not have killed him, the seizure would have died down. These are our Clones, we know what we are doing."

"Docs, we have a mystery to uncover-"

"That seizure could have killed him. Pure and simple." She flipped open the tricorder and began sweeping it over Tup. "The best way to get data is a non-invasive scan. No harm to the subject, no chance of a seizure. No wonder my CO wanted to do this on the _Ra-Cailum_."

Nala sighed as she looked at the results of the Hypertest. "Strange, there doesn't seem to be any sign of infection… how curious," she said. "The subject has turned out negative on all accounts… this Clone seems to be in perfect health."

"We must be missing something," Shaak Ti said. "From the report I was sent, the Clone was under the impression that he was given orders to kill a Jedi… perhaps the Separatists found a way to brainwash him?"

The tricorder began beeping in a new way. "Hello. There's something inside his brain." She said as she detached the high-detail scanner from the medical tricorder and waved it over his head a few times. "There seems to be a biochip implanted in his head. If it weren't so… crude, for lack of a better term, I'd say the Borg did this."

"The Borg?" Shaak Ti asked. "I am not familiar with them."

Ron smiled at the Jedi. "Believe me, you don't want to meet a drone," he said. "Actually, you sort of have. But regardless, the borg don't brainwash like this: they just assimilate your ass."

"Is it possible that the CIS planted it into the Clone?" Shaak Ti asked. "He was MIA for several days before this incident."

"I'm no engineer, and my understanding of anything outside a sickbay is limited."

"There's only two ways to find out." Ron held up a finger. "One, I take a look at CIS and Republic implant tech, which might be pointless, or..."

Aren raised an eyebrow. "Or?"

"We scan clones that haven't been captured or sent to the front lines. This IS the chief cloning facility. If more than one clone has this thing-"

"Captain, I take offence to that. Why would we add these chips to soldiers loyal to the Jedi?"

Ron scoffed. "We'll find out."

"I must protest this, Captain," Nala said. "While the Clones are loyal to the Republic and the Jedi, they are still technically part of the Kaminoan Government - any and all medical-related tasks performed on Clones are to be carried out by the Kaminoan Government or the Republic - not the Federation."

"They are sentient beings, no? They are human, clones or not, so that means they have free will. I'll ask them if they want us to take a look. If they say no, I'll drop it and get back to work."

"That-"

"Is acceptable, Captain." The cloner turned her head to face Shaak Ti, glaring as she did. "You are giving them a choice to undergo an examination, and are to back off if they say no."

"Quite unlike your Jedi Order when it comes to recruitment," Ron sniped, causing Shaak Ti to sigh.

"Not all of the Jedi agree with what Master Fator did, Captain," she said. "This war has… changed a lot of our ways of thinking, some for the better… others not so much."

"Ru, check on the clones: ask them if they would consent to a scan."

"Aye, sir."

"As for me, I'm going to try and get that thing OUT of his head without killing him."

Before Ron could do anything though, Tup's body began spasming out again. "Son of a- Ru!"

"What's going on?" Fives asked, banging against the window of the neighboring room. "What are you doing to him!?"

"I didn't do anything! I'm trying to save his life!" Ron pulled out another container and inserted it into the hypo, injecting Tup with it. "What is that?" Nala asked.

"Modified Borg nanoprobes: the chip is trying to kill him, so I'm going to try and stop the fucking thing from killing him."

"But what-" Before Shaak Ti could speak, Ron injected the nano probes into Tup near the side of his neck. He finally stopped spazzing out, before his body went limp.

"The nanoprobes are doing their job," Ron said, sighing. "Problem is, he's on basic life support: he's not waking up for a while."

"You put him into a coma to save his life?" Nala asked, as Rutia shrugged.

"I'd do it," she said. "Done it, really."

Shaak Ti sighed. "Well, at least he's alive," she said. "You can still remove the chip without further injuring him though, correct?"

"Sure, but that's not the problem," Ron said. "That chip is probably damaged… We won't get as much info from it as we would before."

"At least it can be removed."

"That's going to be a problem for the other clones-"

"We don't know that they have the chips, Captain!"

"Use your head, or whatever you think with, cloner!" Ron shouted. "When you eliminate possibilities, whatever remains, no matter how unlikely, must be the truth. There is no operational scarring on the back of his head that is recent, and breaking through the blood-brain barrier would take a great deal of time for anything the size of that chip without killing the clone. The chip was put in his head HERE, on Kamino."

Nala was silent for a few moments before finally speaking. "I… will have to inform the prime minister of this," she said, before leaving the room to do so.

"You were rude, but you are nothing if not truthful." Shaak Ti said.

"Primum nobis est veritas."

Shaak was confused. "Excuse me?"

"It's Latin: 'Our first duty is truth'," he explained. " I prefer being blunt about it because the truth isn't nice, isn't gentle: it is what it IS, and what it is is the truth, no matter how painful. That, and the positronic brain makes me lying almost impossible unless I undergo a major operation." Ron looked at Rutia. "An operation you haven't done."

"Haven't had the time."

"Still, the sooner we get that out of Tup, the better," Aren said. "I have a bad feeling about those things… If they are in the other clones, I need to make a few calls."

Ron said something in Mandalorian that made him pause, gawk for a moment, then walk away.

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him to say hi to someone for me. I guess my using Mandalorian as easy as a local shocked him." Rutia said something in Trill that roughly translated into 'bullshit', but Ron WAS technically telling the truth.

* * *

**Solanae Dyson Sphere**

* * *

A Mandalorian-crewed _Vo'quv_-Class dreadnought carrier (on loan from the KDF) was investigating another Iconian gateway discovered near the sphere's star.

The star itself was coined a 'brown dwarf' due to its' brownish appearance from mid-distance and its' relatively tiny size by the crew, although they were told that a brown dwarf was, in fact, a supersized gas giant that failed to ignite and turn into a star. The newly-established Dyson Joint Command had decided to send them to investigate the gateway signature, as the Klingons thought they would do better than any KDF crew.

A very special ship, however, was escorting the _Vo'quv_: an _Intrepid_-class science vessel. This was a legend in Starfleet, as the ship had gone where no one had gone before and came back. The ship was the USS _Voyager_ NCC-74656. On board the Mando-carrier was a Federation scientist named Eric Cooper, who was chomping at the bit to take a long look at the Iconian station near the gateway.

"Huh… I think this makes us the closest anyone from our universe has been to a star…" the captain of the _Vo'quv _muttered. "Technology from your universe continues to amaze me."

"You can thank the Ferengi for inventing metaphasic shielding in the first place, and Captain La Forge for making it a mandatory option for all of our shielding systems." Eric said. "So, are your… people ready for the task of securing the station? I don't want to get killed by the swarmers on that thing, or nearly killed like I was with the Borg and Undine-"

"Doctor, shut the hell up and let my men and women do their jobs," the Mandalorian said. "The _Enterprise_ and her counterparts will be here in an hour to help you work this Iconian crap out, so stop complaining. Landing party, are you ready?"

"_Landing party here, we're ready to go,_" came the response. "_Just give us the word, Cap._"

"Voyager _to _G'tok: _we are ready to send over security personnel. Are you ready to proceed?_"

"Yes, Admiral, we're good to go," the Captain said, rolling his eyes. "Bloody Vulcans."

"_I heard that, Captain._"

"I know, that's cause I transmitted it." The Mandalorian Captain said.

"Well, I'll go to the transporter room." Eric said. "Try not to get this thing blown up until then, please!"

"You got it," The Captain said. "Get ready to head over there, team - give 'em hell, and show them what real Mandalorians do! Kote!"

"_Kote!_"

* * *

**Solanae Control Station**

* * *

The station looked much like the area that that Amy and the others encountered less than a month prior, sans one thing: the creepy as fuck Solanae. Cooper peered through one of the malfunctioning doors, seeing a security checkpoint of some kind. "Uh… I'm not good at this sort of thing. Can you help me force open this door?"

"Got it," Amy said, gesturing her head forward as her team moved up. They grabbed on the sides of the door, as they slowly began to pull it open, allowing them access into the room.

Cooper ran toward the central console before looking it over. "I think I can open the rest of the doors from here."

"Is that a good idea?" Amy asked. "This station's thousands of years old: some of the doors might be open to space."

"Most of the doors exposed to space are sealed and I can't override the lockouts for those." Cooper said as he pressed a key, opening another door, which led, seemingly, to the central control room.

Amy pointed her fingers forward as the team moved into the control room, weapons drawn as they scanned the room. "Clear." She said as Cooper walked in after them.

The scientist approached a console and began working on it. "I think I can restore full control, but I'll need to reset everything to do so."

"Just do it." The station shook, but not from the star's activity.

"What the _hell _was that!" One of the Mandalorians shouted, as Amy hit her comm badge.

"_G'tok,_ what the hell was that?" She asked.

"_An unidentified ship just decloaked and fired on us!_"

"_It is not unidentified, Captain:_ Voyager _has encountered these people before. They are called the Voth, although their presence in the sphere is unknown to me._"

The station shook once more "I think they've made their intentions pretty damn clear!"

Static was heard over the comm before they heard another voice. "_This is the voice of your superiors, the voice of the Voth. you will leave the station immediately and surrender yourselves to us. If you cooperate, you will spend the rest of your lives in a penal colony._"

"Fuck. You," Amy growled, as she cut the Comm. "Alright, we need a plan and we need one now. Ideas?"

Cooper smirked. "Oh, I have one," He said as he pressed a key, and alarms started going off.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"It's simple," he said. "The weak will perish!" The Starfleet personnel immediately opened fire on Cooper, who began… changing.

"What the fuck is that thing?!"

"It's an Undine! Shoot it!" The Undine they knew as Cooper disappeared in a yellow column of light as the station destabilized.

"Voyager _to away teams: report your status._"

Amy tapped her commlink again. "Yeah, Cooper was one of those Undine things!" She shouted as she began working on one of the consols. "Trying to figure out what the hell he did."

"_Understood. The Voth have disabled engines and weapons on board the G'tok. We are attempting to force them away._"

"The G'tok's a dreadnought-class ship-"

"A _dreadnought that does not have the countermeasures to defeat the Voth's ability to disable ships by remote. Voyager has encountered them before, and we have the countermeasures installed on all federation starships. Reinforcement ETA in 3 minutes._"

Amy groaned. "Seriously, can't they just give us the countermeasures for all the bat-shit crazy things we _could _come across being in their galaxy on the get-go?" She asked.

"_You mistake the_ G'tok's _lack of countermeasures as our universe not giving you the countermeasures when in reality, Starfleet did not give them to the Klingon Defense force. Until recently, Commander, we WERE at war._"

Amy facepalmed at forgetting that. Sometimes, she could be VERY stupid. "Now what?!"

"_Station atmospheric containment is failing, and the G'tok has activated transporter inhibitors to prevent the Voth from boarding. You must transport to Voyager, or you will perish._"

"Then Beam us the fuck out of here!" Amy shouted.

The Mandalorians vanished from the station, with Amy appearing on _Voyager's_ bridge. "Welcome to Voyager, Commander."

The old Intrepid shook from a weapon impacting the shields. "Commander Van'zyl, attempt to find a weakness in their shields we can exploit."

"I'm working on it, sir, but-"

On the screen, a phaser beam impacted the Voth ship.

"Nice shot."

"That wasn't _Voyager_."

The source of the beam appeared seconds later: an _Odyssey_-Class starship they were all too familiar with.

"Enterprise _to_ Voyager: _are we late for the party?_"

"Negative, _Enterprise,_ the 'party' is just beginning." Tuvok said. "We are concentrating our fire on the Voth ship, with your help we should be able to disable it."

Disruptor fire impacted the Voth cruiser's shields, signalling the arrival of the Bortasqu'. "A worthy opponent at last!"

"Captain Koren, do not get too close to the Voth vessel: you do not have the countermeasures-"

"_I know better than to get too close, Vulcan!_" The Voth ship turned away, heading for the space gate near the station in an attempt to get away from the three Alpha Quadrant ships. It was not going to be that easy, however, as plasma cannon fire hit the Voth ships' aft shields, finally buckling them before the attacker, the _Lleiset_, decloaked. The Voth ship entered the gateway prior to the task force taking the enemy ship out.

"Well, there he goes..." Amy muttered, "Though what I'd like to know now is how the _hell _no one noticed Cooper was an Undine?"

"The Undine are a telepathic species, and they are masters of disguise. They are the very reason the Federation and Klingons were at war, Commander, and their bio-technology is hard to counter. I believe if they wished, they could destroy you the same way they attempted to destroy us."

"You seriously underestimate us, Admiral."

"It was only through prior experience that the Undine didn't destroy the Federation from within." Tuvok said. "At the moment, however, we have more pressing issues. Helm, set a course through the gateway."

With that command, the _Voyager _made its way towards the gateway - soon joined by the _G'tok_ and the rest of the task force as they passed through.

* * *

The Voth ship was not where they expected to be. They expected to enter another Dyson sphere, where another Starfleet ship they had disabled by force was still sitting in the sphere. Instead, they were in space. Deep space. Moments after it appeared in space, however, a concentrated beam of antiproton energy cored the cruiser, fired from an Undine dromias-Class cruiser, which had picked Cooper up after the gateway was activated. "Oh, shit. Uh… what the hell is that thing?" Amy asked.

"It is an Undine warship, Commander. I have witnessed one of them, in conjunction with ten smaller attack ships, destroy an entire planet."

"Well, shit," Amy said. "Please tell me Starfleet knows how to take one of those things out."

Tuvok glanced at the tactical station. "Lieutenant, reconfigure the torpedo launchers to fire the bio-molucular warheads given to us by the _Ra-Cailum_." He said. "The Undine may have partially adapted to the Borg nanoprobes, but they are still the best weapon we have."

"Torpedoes loaded, Admiral."

"Fire at will."

A Photon Torpedo launched from _Voyager _as it sped towards the Undine Warship. The enemy vessel didn't have enough time to attempt to dodge it as the torpedo impacted against the hull of the vessel, which resulted in a spectacular explosion, blasting the enemy ship into pieces.

"_You are a failure, Tuvok! The Alpha Quadrant will burn because of you!_"

"Many have tried. All of them have failed." The Nicor cruisers mobilized, now missing their planet-killer and targeting the ship they knew all too well.

"_Oi Undine Fucks!_" a voice shouted, before the _G'tok_ fired its own modified Disruptors into the hull of the Undine ship, literally cutting into it like a butcher knife. "_Why don't ya pick on someone your own size!_" It then fired a trio of Photon Torpedoes into the vessel, resulting in three large explosions along its hull, further damaging the ship.

"Do you feel angry, Tuvok?! Frustrated?"

"I do not get angry. I rectify my mistakes." The Undine task force attempted to focus fire on Voyager, but the Enterprise fired its' overpowered weapons at the Undine, followed by the Bortasqu'.

"Honorless dogs! burn in Gre'thor!"

Amy chuckled as she watched the Undine ships explode, a sense of pride that Mandalorians were partly responsible for that.

"Admiral, I'm picking up another group of ships inbound."

"Species 8472?"

"No. I think they're Kazon."

"Kazon?" Amy asked. "Are they friendly, or not so friendly?"

"In 2371, when Voyager first arrived, they attacked the ship when we attempted to destroy the Caretaker's array. For three years after that, they continued to hound the ship, seeking the technologies on board."

"Wait, what?"

"The Kazon did not develop their technology: they took it from a race called the Trabe." Tuvok said. "Thanks to a Cardassian agent, the Kazon-Nistrim, one of their sects, took control of _Voyager_ and exiled us to a nigh-inhospitable planet. One of our officers, with assistance, helped retake the ship. We have not seen them in 37 years."

"So what do we do about them?" Amy asked.

"Attempt to contact them and ascertain which sect they belong to. If they are Kazon-Ogla, we will be fine, as we have friendly relations with them. If they are Nistrim-" The Intrepid-Class ship shook from Kazon phaser fire impacting the weakened shields. "Then we have no choice but to fight."

* * *

The _G'tok's_ CO smirked. If these assholes wanted to fight, they'd get one. And the Mandalorians would get something in exchange. The ships, according to the database, were Kazon raiders and a trio of _Predator_-Class carriers. The KDF wouldn't give them everything they needed: they would need a better source to copy from. The Kazon's technology might've been out of date, but it WOULD be all theirs. They would capture at least one of the ships and take it back to Mandalore.

"Get me a boarding party ready. We need to disable one of those Predators," the Captain said. "Once we do, we clear her out and get a tractor beam on it - I can easily see that ship in Mand'alor's navy in the future!"

The _Predator_ was a massive ship: It was almost the size of an _Odyssey_, but much less powerful due to the age of the ship. According to the database, the latest ship of the class built was back in the 2340s. That made the technology on board at least 40 years out of date compared to the five ships it was facing. But with a little KDF help…

"_Enterprise_ has downed one of the carrier's shields!"

"Engage transporters! For Mandalore!" The massive carrier fired at the remaining ships, assisting the _Bortasqu_ in destroying one of the larger cruiser-class raiders. A _Predator_ pounded the _G'tok's_ aft shields, with none of the ships in position to support the Mandalorians. At least until the Kazon ship suddenly lost power.

"Who the hell-"

The cause was another Federation ship: a _Trident_-Class starship IDed as the USS _Gold_.

"Thanks for the assistance, USS _Gold,_" the Captain said. "Pretty sure we could've handled that one ourselves though, but thanks either way."

"_We barely got out of that damned Dyson sphere, and my crew was going insane: we needed to do SOMETHING._"

The Captain blinked. "Dyson sphere?"

"_The Jenolan Dyson Sphere. It's less than half a lightyear from our position. It… JUMPED to this location somehow._" They knew about that sphere: it was discovered by the Federation over a century ago, and rediscovered by… He facepalmed as he looked at the Enterprise-F. "That ship AND its' legacy is going to be the end of us."

"We should return to the sphere and inform joint command of what happened."

"_Before anyone begins making claims on that sphere, I'd like to inform you that that sphere was discovered by US, not the Klingons or the Romulan Republic. We've had scientists there for years._"

"Fine by me," the Captain said. "We've got bigger things to worry about anyways."

"_Alor, we've secured the _Predator!" His Comm bleeped to life as the leader of the boarding party contacted them. "_Enemy forces have either been killed or surrendered - the ship is ours!_"

"Slave its' navigational control to us: we're returning to the Alpha Quadrant. Gold, lead the way."

* * *

**On the other side - USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

"You SERIOUSLY said 'say hi to your wife' to him?"

Ron shrugged. "I have a positronic brain and an advanced facial recognition system inside that brain." HE said. "They're hitched. I just won't tell Republic command. Besides, we should head out once Jaden gets whatever intel he can get his hands on and find us a Sith artifact."

"Speaking of Jaden actually, we're picking up a message now," Corpsa said, looking at the comm station. "He's asking if you could head back to Mandalore - says something about a possible lead on the artifact."

"Riza, take us back to Mandalore, maximum possible speed." Ron said. "Let's test that new reactor Sonja hooked up."

The reactor in question was a modified hypermatter annihilation reaction chamber, which the SCE and Sonja had been working on for a while. It was a highly advanced design, modeled to a degree off of the Archer Warp Five engine.

"Jumping to FTL."

The Ra-Cailum jumped into hyperspace, using a newly-refined Class-0.45 hyperdrive as well as the QSSD.

"ETA to Mandalore, 8 hours."

"Incredible engine. Can you pipe Jaden through?"

"Give me a minute…" Corpsa said. "I'll put him on screen…"

A few minute passed, and finally Jaden's image appeared on the main screen "_Ah! Ron, good to hear from you._" Jaden said. "_I think I may have a lead on finding a Sith Artifact here in the Mandalore Archives._"

"We'll be at Mandalore in 8 hours to pick you up."

"_8 hours? Kamino's too far for that._"

"New hyperdrive and an enhanced reactor to increase the Ra-Cailum's speed." Ron said. "If this pans out, we could be seeing these popping out throughout Starfleet."

Jaden shook his head. "_Starfleet continues to amaze me,_" he said. "_See you then, I'll get things ready here._"

"See you soon. Ra-Cailum out." The Mandalorian disappeared from the screen. "Well, this is going to be-"

"Sir, priority message on all Starfleet channels. It says something about the Dyson sphere that the Jenolan discovered."

"Put it through."

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_ **\- same time**

* * *

"_This is a priority message from Starfleet Command. Please stand by to receive._"

"Standing by," Takeshi replied, before turning to his Bridge Crew. "Any ideas what this is about?"

The image of Admiral tuvok appeared on the big screen. "_This is Admiral Tuvok of the USS _Voyager_. Starfleet, the KDF and the Romulan Republic militia have discovered the location of the Jenolan Dyson Sphere: it has moved into the Delta Quadrant. I am issuing a general recall of all non-essential Starfleet vessels to our universe for what our intelligence services are now referring to as Operation: Delta Rising._"

Takeshi sighed. Knowing their luck, the _Raging Tempest_ was one of those ships being recalled.

"Well, it'd at least be a change of pace," Linda remarked, guessing correctly what her husband was thinking.

"True enough," Takeshi replied. "Still, I have a Bad Feeling regarding the timing of this."

"Sir, we've received a new set of orders," Rina informed. "We're being reassigned to escort the _Ra-Cailum_ due to the… tensions on this side."

"They're worried about the Separatists attacking the _Ra-Cailum_?" Kim asked. "He can take care of himself."

"They DID try to attack the _Brattain_ a few days ago," Linda reminded. "At least it looked that way, so they might be desperate for an edge over the Republic."

Takeshi nodded. "Acknowledge the orders, Rina," he ordered. "Kim, do we know where the _Ra-Cailum_ is right now?"

"En route to Mandalore. They're still doing their 'dark side investigation'."

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied, turning the ship around. "We'll meet up with him there." He aligned the ship towards Mandalore, and a few seconds later the _Raging Tempest_ shot off into FTL.

* * *

**Mandalore**

* * *

"Wait, are you SURE he said 'say hello to your wife for me'?"

"_He spoke Mandalorian, son: that's VERY hard to mistake considering that's the language we usually speak in._"

"How the HELL did he know she's mom?!" Jaden asked. "I mean, no one else knows this outside of us! What the hell?!"

"_I don't know, but let's just hope he decides to keep it between us,_" Aren said with a sigh. "_Right now I'm not very trusting of the Republic… that chip we found in Tup's head? We found more of them… a LOT more of them. So far every Clone we've checked has one of these things inside their head._"

"What does it do?" Jaden asked.

"_That's something even Starfleet isn't 100% sure,_" Aren said. "_We believe its a loyalty chip to keep the Clones loyal to the GAR… but I'm not too sure… I sent what we found to your mother, and she agrees… she's going to start secretly removing the chip out of the soldiers in the Blazing Claw command, under the guise of a 'routine medical checkup'. She wants her troops loyal to her, not just the Republic while Palpatine is in charge._"

The last thing they needed was an army solely loyal to Palpatine, but Starfleet couldn't do a damn thing thanks to that damnable Prime Directive. In principle, it was sound: a way to protect people and keep them on a moral ground. But the Mandalorians did not agree, as if you interferred, you could make things better. But, on the same coin, it could also make things worse. The KDF and Romulan Republic also agreed to this rule, to a point.

"Get me a secure uplink to the _Ra-Cailum_: I need to talk to its' bastard of a captain in private." Aren said.

"_You got it - give me a few minutes,_" Jaden said, as the screen went blank for a few moments.

Ron's face appeared a minute later, the image showing that he was in his ready room. "_Mandalore. Is there a problem?_"

"Have you received the report on the findings on that chip your doctor recovered?" Aren asked.

"_Rutia's looking at them now. But I assume that this isn't about the chip. This is about the comment I made back on Kamino, isn't it?_"

"Yes, it is. How the hell did you figure it out?"

"_Vocal recordings and facial recognition. I confirmed it using the Republic military database's facial recordings. You hid Sutura's links to you VERY well._"

Aren's eyes narrowed. "I trust that you won't inform anyone within the Republic?" he asked.

"_General Order One._"

Aren blinked. "What?"

"_The Prime Directive._"

"I know what it is, you ass!"

"_What I'm saying is that, unless it becomes such a problem that it causes an interstellar incident, my reasons for telling anyone outside my crew and us are basically non-existent._" Ron said. "_Non-interference in all things._"

Aren let out a sigh. "Thank you," he said. "The last thing I want would be the Republic to find out… if they did, it would be the end of Sutura's career in the Navy… "

"_This will not remain a secret forever,_" Ron said. "_You know that. For now, though, my mouth is shut. Besides, I want to solve a mystery before the shit hits the fan._"

* * *

The Ra-Cailum arrived unceremoniously in orbit of Mandalore, then began venting plasma from its' warp nacelles to reduce the ship's temperature. The ship was not designed for long trips in quantum slipstream, and as such, the crew were doing everything they could to vent the heat from the ship and make her ready for another extended trip in hyperspace/QSS. "Open the bussard collectors and prepare to reclaim the warp plasma as soon as the temperature's dropped. Jaden, this is Captain Pinkerton: we're ready to transport you up."

"_I got what I needed,_" Jaden said on the comm. "_Beam me up._"

Ron wordlessly signalled Corpsa to do what she needed to do. "Sir, message from the _Raging Tempest_."

"Put Take on screen."

"_Hey there, Ron,_" Takeshi said as his image popped up on screen. "_Thought I'd give you a brief heads-up - we've been assigned to be your escort._"

"Why the hell would they assign you to us? The Ra-Cailum's powerful enough to handle herself."

"_They're likely worried about the Separatists,_" Takeshi replied with a shrug. "_You know what happened to the _Brattain_._"

Ron adopted a half-scowl. The _Brattain_ was attacked by a pair of attack cruisers a few days before, and while the _Miranda_-Class ship had survived, it probably assisted the Admiral's decision to recall most of the fleet back to the other side: all of the lighter ships (Mirandas, Oberths and such) were recalled, and only the most advanced and heavily armed ships were being left behind, as they could defend themselves. "Two is better than one."

"_Agreed,_" Takeshi replied. "_So, yeah, as much as I agree that our ships together would be overkill, I'm certainly not complaining about this._"

"We're going to be heading out as soon as possible once we've reclaimed our plasma."

"_I thought once it was vented, you couldn't use it again._"

"Let's say the Borg figured out a way and I retained the knowledge."

"_Huh,_" Takeshi remarked. "_That's certainly handy. So, where will we be heading?_"

"Once Jaden gets up here, Riza'll give you helm coordinates."

"Here." Jaden said as he walked into the bridge. "And I've got some info on a possible Sith artifact lead, as promised."

"speak of the devil. Give the data to my science officer: she'll handle the rest. Do we have a general location to head to, at least?"

"Aridus, Narvath Sector of the Flarestar System." Jaden said. "We're going hunting for the Jebble Box."

"The Jebble Box?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Not much is known about the Box itself, but I found something in some old records from the Mandalorian Wars nearly 4,000 years ago." Jaden said. "During the war, a Mandalorian named Pulsipher discovered an ancient sith Artifact known as the Muur Talisman. From the reports we were able to gather, the Talisman was created by the Sith Lord Karness Muur. It created the Rakghoul disease, and it can infect non force-sensitive humans immediately if they aren't vaccinated. However the Rakghouls infected by the Talisman were different - intelligent and evolved, capable of using weapons and starships. Pulsipher wanted to use the Talisman to act as a weapon against the Republic, but he could only use a fraction of its power since he was not force sensitive."

"From a report from a Jedi named Zayne Carrick, we believe he placed the Talisman inside a device called the Jebble Box," he said. "It's kept the Talisman from affecting anyone else. When Jebble was carpet nuked to avoid spreading the Rakghoul plauge, it was presumed destroyed… but many years ago, the Jebble Box resurfaced, and has been the item of many wars and bloody trade across the outer rim, people believing it contains some great fortune or something. There was a war fought on Aridus for it… it ended with both sides killing themselves off. It's the last known confirmed location of the box, so its the best place to look."

"Riza, plot a course, full impulse until the hull temperature drops to a safer level for quantum slipstream, then punch it."

"On it."

Ron pulled out a pair of hyposprays from a kit beside his chair, the vials tinted a bright green. "Do you have a recorded sample of the plague on file, kid?"

"I just handed it to your science officer with the rest of the files." Jaden said. "Get it sent to your chief medical officer so we can get ourselves vaccinated before we head down."

"I've done reading on the plague: a vaccine won't do the trick if the plague adapts to it." Ron said. "We need something that counter-adapts."

Jaden did NOT like where Ron was going with this. "Borg nanoprobes?" He asked. "Are you insane?! Did you forget the last time you tried that trick-"

"The last time we used it on one person who was connected to the Force and under the control of a parasite," Ron said. "This time, it's under controlled conditions. I don't make the same mistake twice if I can help it."

Jaden sighed. "Alright, but I still don't like it… though it's either that, or risk being Rakghouled." He said.

"Then let's get to sickbay so the doc can do her job."

* * *

**Ron the True Fan:** Well, this is interesting.

**Takeshi Yamato:** Indeed. Fans of Star Wars comics might know what ELSE is in that box…

**117Jorn:** Vector fans be happy! One of our favorite Jedi Shadows is coming back! :D

**Ron the True Fan:** And, as always… TARKIN! (Death Star fires) FUCK DISNEY!

Ja Ne!

* * *

Note: Think before you review. Neither side knows everything about the other.


	4. Chapter 4

Stars Asunder

Due to the use of subspace technology, force-users will no longer be around to enforce the pointless disclaimer.

* * *

"Unlike the purely Borg nanoprobes in the boss' body, these are made by Starfleet." Rutia said. "Besides their programming and the way they were manufactured, they're basically the same thing." She smacked an ampule into a hypospray before injecting the nano-tech cure into Jaden's neck. "Unlike the Borg ones, though, they don't adapt as quickly. If they did, disease would not be a problem anymore in our galaxy. The Borg seem to have solved that problem, though: they don't suffer from illnesses that fuck over normal beings."

"Maybe one of these days we'll figure out how to do that… but not important right now," Jaden said. "As long as they prevent us from getting Rakghouled, we'll be fine."

Members of the away team that were going down to the surface were all getting their shots. Well, all but one: Ron was reprogramming his own nanoprobes to do the job. And as they were Borg, they would be more effective. "I want everyone wearing EVA suits with subspace field dampeners, just in case the plague is force-enhanced. Without that energy field, the virus will be easy to kill by the nanoprobes." Ron looked at Jaden. "That includes you. I've looked at your armor, and while it's good, it's not on the same level for atmospheric containment as our EVC suits."

"Fine, fine," Jaden said, nodding. "Better safe than sorry I guess."

"_Bridge to captain: message from Admiral Ushiromiya for you._"

Ron facepalmed. "I'll take it in the doctor's office." Ron went into the booth that served as the private office for the ship's doctor. Rutia waved a tricorder over Jaden's body, smiling as she looked over the findings. "The nanoprobes are online and assisting your immune functions. I'll send over the next batch over to the _Raging Tempest _so their doctor can inoculate their away team. Too bad you guys didn't have me a few thousand years ago, or this plague wouldn't exist to begin with."

"Glad you're here now, then," Jaden said, nodding. "I'd like to avoid the return of the Rakghoul Plague thank you very much."

"That's part of Starfleet's job: disease control is something almost every Starfleet ship has to deal with. Could be worse, though, like the macrovirus."

"MACROvirus?"

"Yeah. Voyager ran into it during her run through the Delta Quadrant. Damn thing rewrites DNA and then reproduces, but instead of being inside the body, it exits through an orifice it makes out of the pores. It grows to around the size of a human torso."

"…there is just no end to the bat-shit crazy stuff you guys come across, is there?" Jaden asked.

"Well, let me tell you of the time the Enterprise, the FIRST one, ran into a giant space amoeba."

Before Rutia could get started, Ron walked out of her office. "Good news and bad," Ron said. "Ushiromiya wants us to get our hands on the Muur talisman if it still exists. That keeps it out of the hands of the Sith. Bad news, we're to deliver it to the USS _Dante_ once we have the damn thing."

"As long as we get enough time to test the the thing for what we're looking for, shouldn't be a problem." Jaden said. "What's our ETA now?"

"It'll take us a couple of hours to get there, what with our using QSS and hyperspace," Ron said. "At least with two ships, I don't think anyone's going to be stupid enough to attack us."

"Let's hope you didn't just jinx us…" Jaden muttered. "I'll be ready once we arrive."

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_

* * *

"The vaccinations from the _Ra-Cailum_ were just sent over, sir," Mogire Kostran, the ship's Betazoid Doctor, informed. "I guess the captain's not taking any risk of contamination."

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied. "Well, scan one of the doses into the replicator, then make enough for the entire crew, just in case."

"Umm… isn't that overkill, Boss?" Kevin asked.

Takeshi turned to his Tactical Officer. "Maxim 37," he said. "There is no 'Overkill'. There is only 'Open Fire' and 'I need to Reload'."

Kevin nodded. "Understood, Boss," he replied.

The two ships dropped out of FTL in orbit of a rather bleak planetoid, seemingly dead in space. "No lifesigns that I can detect, but our sensors aren't exactly designed for planetary surveys," Kim informed

"_Ra-Cailum_, is there anything on your end you can tell us?" Takeshi asked.

A female voice answered the query. "_We are detecting a single faint humanoid lifesign on the surface. It appears to be in a form of stasis. We aren't detecting any other normal lifesigns, but triolic energy signatures are high._"

"_I think it's worth checking out,_" Jaden said. "_I think its best we head down there first before beaming it onboard - could be the Box, might not. But I'd rather not beam back someone or something that could be infected by the disease. Captain?_"

"_We're sending down an armed away team: with all that triolic wave activity down there, we could be running into the ghouls. Energy weapons only, as well: the last thing we need is to piss one of those things off by shooting it in the head and it not doing anything._"

Linda groaned at not being able to use her TR-116B, but if bullets only pissed them off, it was the wiser course of action.

"Understood," Takeshi informed. "Linda, get a team together, have Mogire inoculate you, then head down there. As usual, I'll stay up here in case of trouble, but I'll still have Mogire innoculate every last one of us up here, too."

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_ **\- transporter room**

* * *

Wearing the standard red-and-white EV suits used by Starfleet, the landing party entered the transporter room carrying Type-3 phaser rifles plus, in Ron's case, a compression rifle while Jaden carried his typical blaster rifle. "These things are bulky."

"They're designed to keep your ass from being exposed to anything from the vacuum of space to the atmosphere of a demon-class planet," Ron said. "Bulky's something I can live with."

Jaden sighed, shrugging in the suit. "Fine fine… so, ready to find the Box?" He asked.

Ron smirked as they stepped onto the platform. "I LOVE collecting boxes. Energize." The away team beamed to the surface, protected from whatever was in the atmosphere by their overprotective suits. "So, Mr. Box Man, any idea where to begin looking for the box?"

"Well, let's start by checking out that one lifeform your sensors picked up," Jaden said. "It's as good as a place to start as any."

Linda's team beamed down next to them, and while most were carrying standard Phaser Rifles, Linda was carrying something a bit bulkier.

"Alrighty, then. This way." Ron followed the tricorder's readings, taking them to a roughcut stone building. "I'm picking up a faint energy signature. I'm beginning to think the box is a pod. A stasis pod."

"It's possible… " Jaden said, as they continued walking. After a few minutes, though, they finally came across what looked to be an old battleground, with long decayed bones of beasts and soldiers lying on the ground. But sitting overturned on the battlefield next to a derelict speeder was a large black box-shaped construct.

"…Why do I feel like I'm looking at something that's going to kill me?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, sir, the Vaadwaur were the ultimate sign of that for _Voyager,_" one of the Starfleet officers said.

"I think its safe to say _that's _the Box," Jaden said as he and the others approached it. "Now… how do we open it?"

The former drone waved his tricorder over the box, or more correctly, stasis chamber. "There IS a control latch here, but the last thing I want to do is unleash some sort of ancient evil." Ron looked at Jaden. "You do it. At least then I have plausible deniability." The smile on Ron's face was enough to signal it was a joke, so Jaden played along.

"Bah, we'll be fine," Jaden said chuckling. "Starfleet'd just make yet another wonder technology to defeat said evil, or somehow talk it to death or trick it somehow. At least we're doing this on a dead world, anyways." He approached the box as he looked at the controls. "Alright… where to start…"

"Hmm… there doesn't seem to be a control panel that I can see," Ron said. "Do you think it uses the Force to operate?"

"Not sure," Jaden said, as he touched the box. "There's gotta be a way-" The moment he said that however, the box hissed before the large box began to open. "Whoa! I didn't do it!"

The Starfleet personnel put their hands on their weapons, preparing for whatever could come out of the box. Jaden risked a peek as he looked inside… and saw a human woman. She had pale skin, and long black hair done in a long braid, wearing a tight white cloth-like uniform in a bodice-like armor suit. The lightsaber on her hip was a good indicator that she was either a Sith or a Jedi.

However, the most notable thing was what was attached to her neck - a golden amulet-like object with a red ruby in the center.

"Wow… " Jaden muttered, "Legends were true… but there's no way she's alive - no one could survive in stasis for nearly four thousand-"

He was cut off when the woman's eyes suddenly snapped open before she let out a loud gasp as if awakening from a nightmare "Zayne!" She half-gasped and half screamed out, grabbing Jaden's armored shoulder pad with a strong grip. Inititally surprised, Jaden didn't miss a beat as he held her steady as she gasped for breath, leaning against his EVA suit before she finally rose. "Have the Jedi come?"

"Uhh…" Jaden said in confusion, not sure what to say, before she looked and got a good look at the man who apparently saved her. "Are you - did you free me?" However she got a strange glazed look as she touched the amulet on her neck. "No, its still there - I can feel - I can feel him…" Her eyes contorted and bled before her blue eyes turned red. "No, you are still with me!"

"Ma'am!" Jaden shouted, trying to get the women to pay attention. "Are you alright?"

She didn't respond to his question, as she clapsed her hands over her ears as if to block out a great noise. "How… how long were we - was I inside?"

"Well, judging from our history records… you've been in there since the Mandalorian Wars," Jaden said. "Roughly… four thousand years ago… "

"Four… Four Thousand years…" she muttered, shaking her head. "Zayne… he failed…" She then looked at him. "What about the Covenant? Was it successful?"

Jaden blinked. "Wait, you mean the Jedi Covenant?" he asked, before his eyes narrowed. "You mean the fucks who _murdered _their own Padawans 'cause they thought one of them was going to be a Dark Lord? Got news for ya lady - The Covenant failed _badly _at that. The Sith Lord wasn't _any _of their Padawans - it was Darth Malak, Revan's apprentice who'd become the Sith they were afraid of."

"WHAT?! Oh, Force no…" the woman muttered. "But… the Rakghouls? What about the Rakghouls?"

"Uh, most of the Rakghouls died when Malak bombed Taris into a cinder… though some survived during the Great Galactic War, they too were wiped out, and the Plague… died off." Jaden said. "But Ma'am, is that-"

"What about the Republic?" She asked, not letting Jaden finish. "Does it still stand? Did the Mandalorians conquer the galaxy?"

Jaden paused at that. "Well.. the Republic is still around… barely," he said. "Mandalorians didn't conquer the galaxy… we're just now getting back onto our feet after roughly hundreds of years of Pacifism - long story, tell you later. The Republic is at war with a group of Separatists now using Droid armies… lead by the Sith."

"The Sith?" the woman asked. "No… they were-"

"Wiped out? Yeah, we get that a lot," Jaden said, rolling his eyes. "Ma'am, you can't wipe out the Sith just as much as the Sith can't wipe out the Jedi. Like Mandalorians, the Jedi and Sith are ideas - so long as the ideas survive, their way of life survives as well… granted the Sith have evolved quite a bit since then… ma'am, what is your name?"

She was silent for a few moments before she spoke. "Celeste…" she said, "Celeste Morne…"

"Miss Morne… my name's Jaden Takeo," he said. "Look… we know about the Muur Talisman… is that it on your neck? We're going to try to get it off you. Ron?"

The EVA suit wearing captain walked toward the revived Jedi while pulling out his tricorder, scanning her. "There's a powerful subspace field around the amulet," he said. "As you would say, the Force is strong in this one."

"Har-de-har-har," Jaden said, rolling his eyes. "Can you remove it?"

"Well, once her link is severed, it's as easy as pulling the damn thing off. Hang on, I'll get a dampener." Celeste peered at Ron's uniform, at least what little she could see under the faceplate. The red turtleneck with four solid gold rank pins was visible, along with the quilted gray shoulder areas. "Are you with the Republic?"

"Nope. Captain Ronald Pinkerton, United Federation of Planets starship Ra-Cailum," he said. "We're new around here, you might say."

She gazed on an emblem on the suit's shoulder, seeing what appeared to be an uneven arrowhead. "What… is that?"

"What, the delta arrow?" he asked. "It's starfleet's insignia. It used to be the symbol for the USS _Enterprise_, but after they pulled off the ultimate case of badassery, Starfleet adopted it as the universal emblem for the fleet. That was… roughly 130 years ago."

"I-" Celeste began to said, before she began to spasm a bit, before suddenly the Muur Talisman moved as if it had a mind of its own as it leaped off of her neck, and jumped towards Ron's face.

"The fuck?!"

"It's alive!"

The faceplate began to crack, and Ron grabbed the amulet. "What the hell do YOU want with me?!" He shouted at it.

The Talisman didn't say anything, as it tried to break through Ron's suit. However Jaden grabbed the Talisman, and then tossed it into a container Starfleet had brought with them, sealing it up. "There! Done! Sealed!" He said with a sigh, as the small containment box shook a bit, as the Talisman continued to try to get out, but there was no way it was breaking out. "Well… that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be…"

"It's… it's off…" Celeste muttered. "He's… gone… " her eyes grew heavy, before she slumped over, falling into unconsciousness before Jaden caught her.

"She's alive - but we best get her to medbay of your ship." Jaden said, "No telling what nearly 4,000 years of stasis could do to someone like her."

"Agreed. Pinkerton to _Ra-Cailum_: lock onto our lifesigns and beam us back. I think we've spent enough time on this icebox."

* * *

The teams reappeared on their respective ships, with Ron and Jaden supporting Celeste. "Get her to sickbay," Ron said. "She needs treatment for long term sta-" The _Ra-Cailum_ shook, causing Ron to look at Jaden. "And you had a point. Pinkerton to bridge: report!"

"_Three warships just dropped out of FTL and started firing at us, sir! We need you back up here!_"

"I'll take her to medbay, you head to the bridge," Jaden said as he carried the Jedi out of the transporter.

The Starfleet officer stripped off the top half of the EVA suit as he entered a turbolift, heading back to the bridge. Once the doors opened, he marched out and looked at Sonja. "Report!"

"Three ships dropped out of FTL and opened fire on us. One of them is attacking the _Raging Tempest_, the other two are focusing on us."

Ron sat down in the command chair, shaking his head. "Visual." The ship attacking the _Tempest_ appeared on screen, and Ron began looking it over. The main body of the ship seemed to be based on the _Sao Paulo_, only slightly less streamlined and bulkier, and it was missing the deflector 'nose' section. The 'wings' were more pointed, reminding him more of the _Imperator_-Class then a _Defiant_ subtype, and there were no less than 40 turbolaser cannons mounted in the forward section, as well as 20 torpedo/missile launchers. And mounted on the top of the unit was a controller made from a _Vulture_-Class droid fighter's 'cockpit'.

"That thing was built to fight Starfleet ships," Ron said. "Riza, get us out of here."

"Quantum slipstream is offline: the computer's locked it out, and there's a gravity well preventing hyperspace use."

"Warp drive?"

Sonja shook her head from her post. "Not a good idea: they've boxed us in."

The ship shook, and the helm overloaded, sending Ron's sister to the deck. "Fuck! Jaden get up here!"

"_Hang on, just got Celeste to the med bay!_" Jaden said. "_Heading up now! What are we up against?_"

"Some kind of droid warships, heavily armed!" Ron shouted. "My sister's down, and she's the best pilot we've got! Think you can fly us out of this?"

"_Well, I can fly Klingon ships okay… I'll give it a shot._" Jaden said. "_At the turbolift - Bridge!_"

The _Ra-Cailum_ shook from dozens of turbolasers hitting the shields before Jaden arrived a moment later before he took the helm. "Get us out of here!"

"Got it! Punching it!" Jaden shouted, as he used the controls to get the _Ra Cailum _moving. "Looks like the Sep's are getting smarter! Those new ships pack a hell of a punch! "

"Corpie, same as before: make that thing focus its' shield power toward energy weapons, then torpedo its' ass to death!" The _Ra-Cailum_ turned away from the planet, firing her aft phasers to pen the destroyer in before delivering a killing volley of photon torpedoes. The first torpedo impacted the port wing, causing it to begin drifting before the other three impacted the underbelly, destroying the droid warship. Jaden pushed one of the wrong buttons, causing the _Ra-Cailum_ to enter warp speed, directly on course for the sun.

"OH FUCK! WRONG BUTTON!" Jaden shouted. "KLINGON SHIP IS DIFFERENT!"

Thankfully for Jaden (and not so much for Ron) the ship entered a close orbit around the star, going at over 500,000 times the speed of light. It circled the sun in less than one second, coming to a dead stop in what would be called a Venusian orbit if they were in the Sol system.

Jaden sighed. "Too… fucking… close…" he muttered. "Are they still… following us?"

Jaden suddenly feared the look on Ron's face. "You could say that," he said. "You could also say they aren't. Temporal physics are something of a headache."

"What?"

"What you just did is called a slingshot maneuver," Ron said. "You sent us through time!"

"Oh," Jaden said, before he realized what he meant. "Wait, WHAT?!"

"In 2266, the enterprise fell into the gravity well of an unknown black hole, and when they escaped at warp speed, they were sent back to 1969." Ron explained. "They reversed the process to get back, but only after returning an Air Force officer back to the place he was supposed to be and fixing other problems they caused. 20 years later, the crew of the Enterprise repeated the process to save a pair of humpback whales and Earth. Since then, we've learned to NOT pull that trick too often: mucking about with the timeline is NOT to be done lightly."

"…okay…" Jaden muttered, "So… how do we get back to the future?"

"The same way we got here," Ron said. "But that's going to take time to calculate. T'Vara, WHEN are we?"

A Vulcan woman wearing the blue version of the uniform quickly did the stellar drift calculations. "Approximately 3900 years prior to the present day," she said.

Jaden processed that "3,900 years…" he muttered. "We could be… " he shook his head. "How long will it take for us to get back?"

"A few days, depending on the damage to the warp nacelles." Sonja said. "We could remove the relativity shielding and go back that way."

"If you wouldn't mind Captain… I would like to see exactly when we arrived," Jaden said. "Plus, this _is _Celeste's time period, I assume she would want to remain here after all."

"We'll have to ask her," Ron said. "In the meantime, though…" Ron looked at Sonja. "Activate the special surprise."

"Activating special surprise." The lights dimmed for a moment. "And we're invisible."

"Set a course for Jabble." Ron said. "If we arrived just as she was put in the box, then we'll hand her over to whoever put her in the damn thing. Take us toward the planet."

"Right…" Jaden said, who seemed to be deep in thought but none the less plotted the course towards Jabble. "Course is set."

"Are you alright?" Ron sighed. "If you want to change history, I can't exactly let you. The Temporal Prime Directive prevents me from doing so, even if I want to."

"I know… " Jaden muttered. "But can you blame me? We're in the period where the Mandalorians Wars could be in full swing… how much about those wars did you read up on Ron? How many planets were carpet nuked, lives lost… all because Mandalore the Ultimate wanted a false sense of glory because the Sith hiding in wild space told him to… weakening the Republic so when Revan and Malak fell, and began their empire - they nearly won, and caused even _more _needless death and destruction."

"Many of my people look to these times with a sense of pride… how we almost took over the galaxy if not for the Revanchist movement…" Jaden muttered. "I don't… me and my father viewed the wars as a mark of shame… how we waged such a pointless war for no reason other than just to wage war with the Republic. No political or economic reasons… we just wanted war. With what I know… I could change _so much_… stop the war before it gets out of hand… prepare the Mandalorians and the Republic for the arrival of the true Sith Empire…"

"And how would you do that?" Corpsa asked.

"Simple: Challenge Mandalore the Ultimate to a one-on-one duel, and kill him." Jaden said. "I kill him and take his mask, I would either become Mand'alor, or I could assign someone I know would make for a good Mand'alor. Then I'd ask for a cease fire with the Republic, asking for an end to the war. Give back the territory the Mandalorians don't need, help pay for the damage we've done across the galaxy… and then help Revan prepare for the true Sith Invasion. _That _would be the real trick… but before I could do anything, I'd need to know exactly _when _we showed up in the Mandalorian Wars."

"T'var?"

"I am quantum dating the space around us." The Vulcan said. "I have a lock on the ice planet. According to the dating, we are approximately 3945 years prior to the present day."

"There's a ship in orbit of Jabble, boss." Corpsa said. "Looks like they're just leaving."

Ron looked at Jaden. "Mr. Takeo." He said. "It's your universe. Your call. Do we talk to them, or do we stay cloaked?"

"I have _no _idea who's in that ship, Ron." Jaden said. "Stay cloaked for now-"

"Wait, additional ships just showed up. Matching old Mandalorian designs." Corpsa said, "They're packing nukes! They're firing on the planet!"

"We must've showed up right when the Mandalorians Carpet nuke Jebble to contain the Rakghouls…" Jaden muttered. "Remain cloaked for now… nothing we could do here to make anything different for now. Jebble didn't have a civilian population anyways."

"This reminds me of the Vaadwaur. The Turei bombarded the planet with plasma bombs. 9 centuries later, still in a nuclear winter. Of course, the Vaadwaur kinda deserved it: they were dicks. MASSIVE dicks." The captain stood up. "Let's go talk to miss Morne. See if she wants to remain in her time, or come with us back to ours."

* * *

**Later - Med bay**

* * *

Jaden and Ron stepped into med bay where Rutia was checking up on Celeste. "How's she doing, Doc?" Jaden asked.

"As well as she could be, considering that she spent 4000 years in stasis. A few days of rest and a bit of food and water, and she'll be light as rain."

"I don't think I need a few days of rest, Doctor-" Celeste froze at the smile on Rutia's face.

"Doctor knows best, dear. Now, take it easy for a while."

Rutia walked off, and Celeste shuddered. "For some reason, I feel as though she will be my end if I don't listen to her."

"Most of the crew feels that way. But she's the best doctor in the fleet, so I don't give a shit."

"Exactly, who _are _you though?" Celeste asked. "I've never heard of this Starfleet, or this 'Federation' that the Doctor mentioned."

"Well, for starters, the United Federation of Planets was founded in the Terran year 2161. That was exactly 248 years ago. We're not from around here. Hell, we're not from your galaxy, or any other. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is in an alternate reality. In other words, we're living proof that other universes exist."

"But… that's impossible! If they existed-"

"Believe me, lady, other universes exist. Hell, we traveled back 4000 years no less then ten minutes ago."

Rutia walked back in, carrying a tray of medical tools. "Gave her the 'alternate universe' talk?"

"Didn't have a choice. She asked."

The Trill scoffed before pointing a screwdriver-like tool at his head. "That brain of yours needs working on." She said. "Mr. Takeo, take her out of my sickbay while I do my job with his Borg implants. He missed his monthly exam last week."

"Got it - come on, I know where the guest quarters are." Jaden said, as Celeste managed to get onto her feet, as Jaden guided her through the _Ra Cailum._ They walked in silence for a while, before Celeste finally spoke.

"What you said… was it true?" She asked Jaden, causing him to blink.

"About what?"

"The Covenant… did… did they truly fail… to stop the Sith?" She asked, causing Jaden to sigh.

"Yes… and miserably so," he said. "Like I said, it was none of their apprentices… Zayne Carrick just lived a normal life as a salvager with his friends from what the reports said. The Covenant was eventually dissolved with most of its members dead… and a few years later, Malak and Revan went into the unknown regions where they confronted the true Sith Empire from the Great Hyperspace War. The Sith Emperor corrupted them, as the two were sent back as conquerors… Revan however broke free from the corruption, and set out to prepare the galaxy for the Sith's return… but Malak fell too far, and after he took control of their Sith from Revan, continued the war with a weakened Republic. It was only thanks to a redeemed Revan that the Republic even _survived _the civil war."

"But… how-" she shook her head. "No. No, I have to warn them about the danger. If I can stop them-"

"You can't," Jaden said. "Actually, the crew's not going to let you. They got something called a Temporal Prime Directive."

"What?"

"Yeah, they have a rule about changing the timeline: don't."

"If I can warn them about the danger, I can change things for the better!"

"You could also make them WORSE," Jaden said. "I think that's why they have their directive: what you know is better than what you don't." He sighed "Believe me, I _want _to change the outcome of the Mandalorian Wars… kill Mandalore the Ultimate and put someone in charge with their head on straight… but I won't do that unless we can confirm that this won't ruin _our _future somehow. If it ends up creating an alternate universe that's one thing… but now we're getting into quantum mechanics and crazy stuff like that that not many people understand."

Celeste shook her head. "I have to warn them. Barring that… Malak has to die."

"And you have no clue where to find him, so… how?" Jaden said shrugging.

"I don't know, but my duty to the Jedi order is clear as day!" Surges of energy were heard as the Jedi shadow looked back, seeing Corpsa and five more security officers, all carrying phaser rifles. "Miss, Captain Pinkerton has ENOUGH problems to deal with." Corpsa said. "You breaking the TPD is not happening."

Jaden blinked. "How long were you-"

"We kept an eye on her and you via the internal sensors. We heard everything."

He sighed. "I can _handle _this myself, thank you." Jaden said. "There's no way she could leave the _Ra Cailum _anyways without knowing its layout anyways."

"Better safe then sorry, Mr. Takeo. Miss Morne, I hope you enjoy your stay on board the Ra-Cailum, but I have to warn you that the last thing we want is to have the Department of Temporal Investigations on this ship. Those guys hate it when this shit happens."

"…you have a DEPARTMENT dedicated to investigating incidents of time travel?"

"It happens a LOT. At least it's not HIS ship."

"His?"

"James T. Kirk. Biggest number of violations on record at 17. Man was a menace according to them."

Jaden groaned. "Let me guess… _Enterprise?_" he asked.

"NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A. He… disappeared during the Enterprise-B's maiden voyage. It's a long story." The Andorian sighed. "Regardless, miss, until we're ready to return to our time, you're not going to be going near the shuttle bays or the transporter rooms. The boss knows you want to do the right thing, but we have a duty to prevent undue damage to the timeline."

Celeste still looked like she wanted to protest, but Jaden put a hand on her shoulder. "Celeste… you could do more harm than good," he said. "If Revan doesn't turn to the dark side, he doesn't get redeemed and pursue the Sith where he's captured again… because of that, he uses the force to _delay _the Sith Invasion. If you intervene, the Republic - as it is now - would be _crushed _by the Empire, with or without the Mandalorians."

The Jedi surrendered to fate. "Very well. I don't like it… But I will not destroy the lives of billions. Does the Jedi Order still exist in your time?"

"Yeah, it does."

The Shadow let out a breath. "At least the talisman is no longer a threat."

* * *

**November 2409 - USS **_**Raging Tempest**_

* * *

Takeshi opened up with the ship's weapons again, obliterating the last of the Droid Warships. "Figured they'd start taking a page from our playbook sooner or later," he remarked. "Kim, any idea where the _Ra-Cailum_ went?"

"Judging from the fact they jumped into warp speed at JUST the right angle… they performed a slingshot maneuver."

The entire bridge crew facepalmed. "'The misfits of Starfleet', that's what they call them and that's what they are," Linda remarked.

Takeshi sighed. "They say Kirk has the biggest file at DTI… I'm wondering if Ron's trying to beat that record, subconsciously at the very least," he said.

"Maybe, and maybe - contact on sensors!" Kim announced. "It just appeared, 50000 kilometers behind us!" She relaxed a few seconds later. "_Sovereign_-Class. It's the _Ra-Cailum_."

Takeshi grinned. "Rina, open a channel," he ordered. When Ron's image appeared on the screen, Takeshi said, "Hey, Ron, you trying to beat Kirk's record with DTI or what?"

"_Uh… he did it._"

Jaden, sitting in the first officer's chair, turned his head sharply at Ron's pointed finger at him. "_WHAT_!"

The grins, however slight, were enough to signal one thing: they were playing around. "_Jaden did it by accident: he had no clue that he was performing a slingshot. Hell, I think that's the first time that a slingshot was done by a sentient being by accident._"

Takeshi nodded. "So, I know DTI's likely going to want to 'chat' with you, but you didn't make any changes, right? No Pre-Destination Paradoxes, either? I've heard they hate those."

"_We didn't really DO anything, except watch a nuclear bombardment of the planet. Had to wait a couple of days before we fixed the warp engines, but other than that, nothing. We should head for the rendezvous coordinates with the delivery ship: I want this amulet off my ship._"

"_We'll hand it over to the _Dante _once we meet with them,_" Jaden said. "_But we still need to run those tests to confirm if your theory on Palpy is true or not… I certainly HOPE its not true…_"

"Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. Technical Intelligence should tell us if we're right."

* * *

**12 hours later**

* * *

A long, thinly built cruiser materialized out of nowhere, with four nacelles and a dark blue hull. "I didn't think the _Dante _was _Eclipse_-Class. Hell, I didn't even think they were in PRODUCTION yet."

"_Eclipse_-Class?"

"Yeah, they were designed for general intelligence duties, but they pack one hell of a punch. They're as well armed as the _Ra-Cailum_."

"Nice ship…" Jaden muttered. "Well, let's get the Talisman ready for transport - glad we're getting that force forsaken thing out of here… "

"The godforsaken amulet is in transit." Ron said. "Energizing… transport complete. All yours, _Dante_."

"_Confirmed, _Ra-Cailum_: a pleasure._" The Dante banked and began to disappear, becoming invisible at the 90 degree mark.

"I thought cloaking devices were illegal for you guys to use." Jaden said.

"With the fall of the Romulan Star empire, the binding Treaty of Algeron no longer applies." Ron said. "If the remnants want to bitch about it… fuck 'em. They aren't recognized by ANYONE as the Romulan government anymore: even the True Way knows it."

"Not complaining, either way," Jaden said with a sigh. "So, what did we find out?"

"That YOU are never flying my ship again. Unfortunately, even IF my theory's right, we can't do anything to boot the fucker from office."

"What?!"

"The Prime Directive is a bitch that way. As long as this is a purely internal affair within the Republic, we can't do anything to kick the bastard out of office. Like we couldn't during the Klingon… Civil… War." Ron smirked. "That inglorious BASTARD."

"So… despite the fact you KNOW that 95% of the Sith Lords in our universe have been more evil than that Adolf Hitler prick I read up about…" Jaden said. "Who'd bombard entire planets from orbit, killing _billions _of people… you won't even tip the Republic off that their 'beloved' Chancellor is the reigning Sith?"

"No, not Palpy. Picard! He came up with a way to interfere WITHOUT breaking the Prime Directive. During the war, he commanded a task force that blockaded the Romulan-Klingon border with a tachyon net. He made sure it stayed internal. So WE have to do the same. Interfere WITHOUT interfering."

"And _how _do you plan to do that?" Jaden asked. "This isn't like the Klingon civil war at all… it'd be one thing if we actually knew _what _his plan for an end-game was, but without knowing…"

"Agreed. In the meantime, we'll return to Coruscant. Corpie, send a Code 47 transmission to the USS Shuriken. Tell that bitch that she owes me a favor, and I'm cashing in. Tell her to get the locations of every active Jedi in the galaxy on the front lines."

"Why?"

"If Palpy wants to kill the Jedi… We're going to make it INFINITELY harder." Ron said. "They might've made a few fuck ups, but outright destruction is something nothing deserves. All things deserve a chance for redemption. I think you understand that all too well."

"Wouldn't mind them being slapped around a bit more, but you're right," Jaden said. "I just can't figure out for the life of me how Palpatine plans to pull that shit off, though…"

Before Ron could answer, Corpsa spoke up. "Sir! Message from Starfleet!" she announced. "The Separatists are launching an all-out assault on Coruscant!"

The captain's voice gained an unknown accent as he spoke. "Son of a Protestant whore."

"It gets worse. It appears they've kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine… And Ambassador Sugihara."

Ron facepalmed. "Of all the assholes we have to rescue, WHY him? He talks too much!"

"That he does, onii-sama."

The former drone let out a breath. "Well, I've been wanting to kill shit, and the retards gave me the excuse to get completely involved and kick some serious ass! Riza! Full speed ahead!"

* * *

**Meanwhile - At Coruscant**

* * *

"WHY WON'T YOU SHUT UP!" Grievous shouted, as he was very tempted to grab one of his lightsabers, and slice in half the Federation Ambassador they kidnapped along with Palpatine as their fleets and armies continued to assault the planet.

Palpatine was tempted to ask the cyborg to do just that, if only to spare himself the headache. but Jiro Sugihara was too valuable to simply hack in half, but NOT quieted so easily. "You have to realize that this is a mistake! Kidnapping me only makes things worse for your government, unless this is your way of asking me to negotiate a settlement between the CIS and the Republic-"

"GAH! SHUT UP!" Grievous was NOT having a good day, in case you hadn't noticed. First, the Jedi had been keeping Palpatine from him, and those Starfleet security assholes had shot him. With weapons that went THROUGH lightsabers! As such, after a long chase, he simply decided to take them BOTH. Considering that Shaak Ti was being a pain in the ass, it was NOT easy. But they were en route back to his shuttle, and once they were on board, he would get back to the _Invisible Hand_ and deliver the two to Count Dooku. The Chancellor of the Republic and a Federation Ambassador would be a great prize, indeed.

"I highly doubt you'll be able to negotiate with him at this point, Ambassador." Palpatine said with a sigh. "If he and his forces have _already _committed themselves to such an attack."

"You know what they say, Chancellor! If at first you don't succeed-"

"SHUT UP, YOU FUCKING WINDBAG!" Grievous actually pulled out a lightsaber and activated it, putting the blade to Sugihara's throat. "If I hear one more word out of you, I WILL take your head off!"

Sugihara nodded before Grievous put the plasma weapon away. "He seems to have issues." And Grievous' trip down the rabbit hole of madness put on rocket boots.

Blue blaster bolts and red-orange phaser bolts rained on their position, forcing Grievous to fall back.

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

"Prep Raventail Squadron for launch and get my N1 ready: I'm going to be helping in the fighter assault. And in case Jaden wants to come along, get a bird ready for him."

"I've already got something," Jaden said. "Had my personal ship sent here before we left Mandalore."

"We'll be going in on rescue operations. Tell Maria to get her MACOs in a Type-7 shuttle for rescue operations. Let's show the GAR what Starfleet's Marines can do."

"Aye, sir."

Jaden raised an eyebrow. "MACOs?"

"Military Assault Command Operations. They used to be Earth's SpecOps assault commandos, but they evolved into the Federation's Marine Corps. We have a full company on the _Ra-Cailum_, actually."

"Huh, good to know," Jaden said nodding. "Well I guess it's… how did that one Earth movie say it… 'Time to kick the tires and light the fires' right?"

"Or, in my case, DIE, MOTHERFUCKERS!"

* * *

**Coruscant orbit**

* * *

A Venator-Class cruiser hung over the planet waiting to enter action with the enemy fleet. A pair of Eta-2 fighters flew towards the warship, followed by a modified N1 Nubian starfighter and a roughly X-shaped fighter. The formation flew close to the cruiser before being joined by a third Eta-2, and all five craft flew, in formation, into the hellstorm. Starships unleashed fire on one another, with Starfleet's Nebula-Class starships proving themselves VERY lethal torpedo boats with their pod launchers and the most dangerous ship there being the _Enterprise_. The Odyssey-Class starship destroyed a Munificent-Class frigate that the formation flew past, one of the pieces of debris impacting a Venator's ventral side.

"Lock onto it, R2." Anakin's astromech beeped an affirmative. "Master, Captain, General Grievous' flagship is directly ahead. The one CRAWLING with vulture droids."

"_We see it, General._"

"_Oh, this is going to be _easy_,_" Obi-wan muttered sarcastically. "_Oddball, mark my position and follow up behind us!_"

"_Copy that General._" Oddball said as a squadron of ARC-170's flew up behind the two Eta-2's as they headed towards the _Invisible Hand._

"_Raventails, do you copy?_"

"_We hear you, boss. Loud and clear. Orders?_"

"_If it's not GAR or Allied, fuck it up!_" A squadron of mixed Peregrine and Stalker-Class fighters entered formation with the ARCs, following them in. "_Ahsoka, are you alright with this? I mean-_"

"_You're my commanding officer at the moment, Captain. I don't have a problem taking orders from you. Besides, it's just a joint operation._"

Ron scoffed. "_Right. Marie, status?_"

"_The ship's tough, I'll give them that,_" Marie replied. "_It looks like they gave the ship a full retrofit with new tech and shields… still not as good as ours, but she can put up one hell of a fight. _"

"Set S-foils in attack position." The S-foils on the fighters moved into their attack positions, and Ron armed his phaser cannons. "This is where the fun begins."

"_Let them pass between us, gentlemen._"

"_Fuck that. Raventails, fire at will!_"

The squadron of fighters sped towards one another as they all fired their respective weapons, as the Vulture Droids fired at the Republic and Federation ships, downing several of each - though the Federation forces were able to down more Droid Fighters as the Dogfight ensued.

"_That was reckless!_"

"_If you let them pass, they'd've killed at least a dozen of your fighters! Use your head, Kenobi!_" The Starfleet-built Nubian fired its' phaser cannons at a droid tri-fighter, and with the droid's weak shielding not powerful enough to defend against a type-VI phaser cannon, it exploded in three short bursts. A pair of Vultures opened fire with a volley of eight missiles, each heading for the five fighters and the Starfleet shuttle. "_Take evasive action!_"

The fighters split off, as the missiles followed each one. Anakin managed to perform a spin which resulted in two of the missiles following him to destroy one another, however the remaining missiles sped up ahead of the other fighters, and detonated ahead of them, confusing them for a moment before several swarms of small ball-like objects latched themselves onto the Fighters.

"_I'm hit. Anakin?_"

"I see them: buzz droids." The droids' protective covers opened up, and the droids seemed to cackle as they began to try and cause the fighter to crash into a Republic ship or a Federation one. Ahsoka and Ron's craft were immune to their sabotage: they were not only made of tritanium, their built-in SIF fields prevented everything short of weapons fire from damaging the craft, plus they had a polarization field built to… remove anything like buzz droids. violently. The hordes attached to the two fighters were launched off, but Obi-wan's craft was not so lucky. "Ahsoka, try to keep those things from getting to R4! That astromech might be the only thing stopping that fighter from crashing!"

"_Alright, hang on…_" Ahsoka said, as the Shuttle moved behind Obi-wan's Eta-2, using the Shuttle's targeting systems to carefully target just the Buzz Droids - and using a bit of the Force to help guide her aim. She fired a few short bursts, as her shots were true as she hit each Buzz Droid around R4 one by one.

"Good shots, Lieutenant!"

"_The _Invisible hand's _directly ahead. All birds, prepare to land._" The astromechs wailed, as if to warn them of something.

"_Have you lost your mind?! The shields are still up!_"

"_I'm working on-_" A heavy turbolaser bolt impacted the N1, and while it was MORE durable than a standard, a capital ship-level weapon hitting the craft was enough to doom it.

"_Captain Pinkerton! You alright?_" Ahsoka shouted, while Anakin fired his Eta-2's weapons at the air shields of the carrier, taking out their generators.

"_I'm fine, but this thing's had it! I'll set it to ram into the carrier before I bail out! Good thing I can survive in the vacuum!_" The Nubian-designed fighter veered toward the Providence-Class ship's side before the captain bailed out, grabbing onto the side of the MACO shuttle.

"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this!" Obi-wan shouted as the blast doors to the hangar began to close, however the Fighters and Shuttle narrowly managed to pass through before they slammed shut.

The Starfleet captain seemingly hovered in midair as he opened fire on the security B1 battle droids. Anakin's jaw was on the deck as he figured out that he WAS hovering. Literally. "How the hell-"

"RATO-assisted anti-grav boots are a bitch!"

The MACOs debussed from the shuttle, opening fire on the droids, their thin armor plating standing no chance against Federation phaser fire. Or three trained Jedi, former or not.

A few minute later, the hangar was finally cleared as the B1 Battle Droids were either cut up or burned by lightsabers or phaser fire. "R2, you know what to do," Anakin said, as the Astromech Droid moved towards the closest terminal, accessing it.

A map of the ship appeared, with R2 highlighting the rear spire. "The Chancellor's signal is coming from there, at the top of that spire."

"Sugihara's there, too. They didn't even bother removing his commbadge." Ron looked at Jaden. "Who trains these people? Even people who know nothing about us take the damn things we get captured with!"

"Unless they _want _us to find them." Jaden said. "They're expecting us - it's obviously a trap."

"I sense Count Dooku."

Obi-wan agreed. "I sense a trap."

One of the MACOs - Major Marie Celeste Gibson, to use her full name - approached the group of higher ranking personnel. "Next move, boss?"

"Spring the trap," Ron said. "MACOs will take the stealthy way up. We'll take the not-so-stealthy way up." Ron looked at the Force-users. "By the way…dibs."

"Uhhh… Dibs?" Obi-wan asked in confusion.

"It's a Terran thing. Basically, I'm laying claim on something."

"If you're talking about Dooku-"

"Sort of. I'm calling dibs on his lightsaber. And I called it first!" The laugh almost made them think he was insane. Then again, he was trying to make them not think that were were going into a life and death situation. And there was no mistake about it: they WERE going into a life and death situation.

"Let's get this over with." Jaden said, as he prepared his WESTAR-M5. "If we're _really _lucky, we can take out Grievous and Dooku in this mission. At the very least, we're taking out one of them."

* * *

On the bridge, sliding metal signalled the arrival of General Grievous, who let out a low growl as he walked into the command chamber. "What's the situation, captain?"

A neimoidian activated a display. "Three Jedi and a Starfleet commando team have landed in the main hangar bay," he said. "We're tracking the Jedi, but we lost the Starfleet team."

Grievous was not worried. "Just as Count Dooku predicted." Grievous let out a cough, his armored body not having seen repair since Windu not-so-kindly crushed his chest using that damned Force of theirs. "Send a force of droidekas to… greet the Jedi. And prepare our special… surprise once they arrive in the viewing chamber."

* * *

Clattering metal was heard as the group arrived at a turbolift, and Ron sighed. "Destroyers?"

"Destroyers!" Two droidekas arrived, then unrolled, deploying their deflector shields and opening fire. The Starfleet captain deployed a cover shield, which absorbed the blaster bolts as they were fired.

"Hmm…" ron fired his phaser at the left droideka, which impacted the shield almost harmlessly. "Shield frequency is 184.78." He said, "Same as the ships' shields. You guys have NO idea how to remodulate." Ron activated his compression rifle and reset the weapon before firing two beams at the droids, which went THROUGH the shields and cored the machines they were supposed to protect.

"The Sep's can be slow learners." Jaden said as he activated the elevator, calling two down. "We should take separate elevators - Anakin and Obi-wan take one, me, Ron and Ahsoka should take the other."

"Agreed."

The doors opened, revealing a number of B1s. "Drop your weapons. I said drop them."

Ron and Jaden shared a rueful look before gesturing to the Jedi to do their thing. The poor bastards didn't have a chance against 4 lightsabers, as they were 'disassembled' in a matter of moments. "We'll see you on top."

Anakin and Obi-wan nodded as the door shut, and their lift went upwards. "I get the feeling this is NOT going to be as easy as it's been so far." Ahsoka said.

"Gee, ya think?" Jaden asked. "They know we're coming, and Dooku and Grevious are _not _fools - they wouldn't be doing this if they weren't confident they had prepared for us."

"That just makes this more interesting. Cock and lock, me boyoes. We're going hunting."

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_

* * *

The same craft that attacked them earlier were out in force.

"Jeez, this is going to be a nasty fight," Takeshi remarked, even as he Alpha Struck one of the new ships. They were stronger than most CIS craft, but just like everything else in this universe, one could not stand up to a full volley from the _Raging Tempest_. "Kim, how's the battle shaping up?"

"Starfleet's thinning out the ranks, but there are a LOT of those droid escort craft," Kim replied.

A trio of the destroyers converged on the _Raging Tempest_, but were fired on by a massive legend: the USS _Galaxy_ NCC-70637. The prototype for all _Galaxy_-type starships fired all of her phaser arrays on one of the craft, sending it into a death spiral towards a _Lucrehulk_-Class battleship/control ship, the heavy armored nose allowing it to burrow deep into the hull before it exploded, followed by the ship itself.

"Wow, even over 50 years old, the _Galaxy_ is still putting up an impressive fight," Takeshi remarked. "Kev, set the cannons to Scatter Volley mode and queue up a spread of Quantum Torpedoes."

"Got it, Boss," Kevin informed.

Takeshi angled to a position where there were only CIS ships in front of him and pulled the trigger, spewing Phaser bolts in a cone in front of his ship, along with thirty-five Quantum Torpedoes set for proximity detonation. The resulting blasts took out a large chunk of the CIS fleet.

One of the destroyers that evaded the _Galaxy_'s onslaught fired on the _Tempest_, but a quick Cuban loop allowed him to pound the destroyers' rear end with pulse cannon fire, sending it to its' death as the smoking droid rammed into the _Invisible Hand_, destroying part of the mid-section before the ship exploded safely out of the larger IH.

"That could have been a lot worse," Takeshi remarked. "I hope Ron, Ahsoka, and the Jedi hurry up in there!"

* * *

_**Invisible Hand**_

* * *

"Something just rammed the ship." The Providence shook from an explosion. "Something rammed the ship and EXPLODED after exiting it."

"How can you be sure?"

"My eye can see through metal to some degree: I just saw a destroyer ram the ship and explode. I'm not sure how much this shitbox can take."

"Then we need to-" Jaden began to say before their elevator came to a stop. "Oh goddamnit…"

"I can override it. Hang on." Ron extended the tubules into a computer port, snarling every few seconds. "Oh, want to play THAT game, do we? Ok, two can play at that." The elevator began moving again, and Ron smirked. "Do NOT play computer games with a Borg drone. We always win." Ron pulled out his rifle as the lift arrived at the top, but it appeared they missed all the action, as they saw Dooku's headless body on the deck, with Anakin holding the red blade as well as his own.

"Wow, we really _were _late…" Jaden muttered. "Well, at least Dooku's dead and won't be a threat anymore."

"Yes… " Anakin muttered, glancing back at the corpse for a moment as he deactivated Dooku's saber, tossing it towards Ron. "You called dibs, there you go."

The evil grin on the captain's face made them think that giving him the weapon was a mistake.

"Thank you, gentlemen." He said. "And Miss Tano. Now we must leave, before more security droids arrive."

"Oh, please." Ahsoka said, "We can handle a bunch of-" Thuds were heard as a hidden hatch opened in the floor, and a massive hand reached out of it, followed by another as pulling itself up was… a monster. A Very, VERY Large creature with an oversized head, and razor sharp teeth and tusks with spike-like fins along its elongated head and back.

"Uh… fuck." Ron muttered.

"Ok, I think I remember that thing." Ahsoka said. "That thing was on Korriban, with the Iconian gate!"

"That… Ahsoka… is a Terentatek…" Jaden said, as they began to take a few steps back before the massive creature. "Only… it kinda looks… Rakghouled…"

The Rakgoulified Terentatek finally noticed them, as it glared at them with its dark eyes, before it then proceeded to let out an ear-shattering roar at them.

"Ok, this is the LAST thing I wanted to deal with! Shoot it!" Ron opened fire with his phaser rifle, but the bolts, only set to setting 6, just pissed it off. And the rakghoul plague made the damn thing stronger, if anything else: even the maximum setting wouldn't kill the damn thing.

The Monster roared out again as it lashed out against the team, who leaped out of the way as it tore apart the overhead catwalk, and slamming its clawed arms into the deck as it chased after them.

"I think now is a _VERY _good time to leave!" Jaden shouted as Anakin picked up Obi-wan, as he, Palpatine and the Ambassador headed towards the elevator doors.

The monster began to follow them, but Ron had a simple solution. "Hey, fuckface! think you can fly?!" The creature didn't get it. It didn't need to as Ron fired the compression rifle at the large windows, setting the weapon to nigh-maximum to get through the transparisteel was flushed out into space, and they nearly followed suit before a shutter closed to prevent anymore atmospheric loss.

* * *

"HOLY SHIT!" Takeshi yelled, as what could only be called a freak of nature appeared in front of the _Raging Tempest_, and the first instinct was to fire EVERYTHING. "Kev, Rapid Fire and Max Yield!"

"On it!" Kevin called out, and Takeshi pulled the trigger, sending four High-Yield Quantum Torpedoes and a massive barrage of phaser bolts at the thing.

Vaporized was an understatement as the creature disappeared under the weight of fire leveled against it. "What the hell was that thing?!"

"I don't know, but Ron has a LOT to answer for!"

* * *

The group arrived at the lift, but the doors weren't opening. "Elevators not working."

"I can override the lift, but that'll take a minute." Ron said.

"Or we could rappel down with grapple lines."

However before that thought could go anywhere… the _Invisible Hand _began to go into a dive, resulting in a shift of gravity which forced them to hang onto the elevator door frame or sent flying. "Oh shit!" Jaden shouted as he used his Lightsaber to cut open a hole in the door. "Come on! Everyone in!"

Ron pushed the ambassador and an unconscious Obi-wan into the shaft, while the others clambered in under their own power. "Run! Run like your asses depend on it!" Ron shouted. "MACOs, report!"

"_We're in the computer core, but the ship's in a dive: we can't do shit like this!_"

"What IDIOT designed your artificial gravity technology?! Ours doesn't do this!"

"Do you want to get into this NOW, of all times, Ron?!"

The seven-man group ran like mad, heading 'down' the spire before they began to notice a declining angle. "Oh, crap." They began sliding down the side, and Sugihara hung onto Ron like his life depended on it. Which it DID.

"Oh fuck, oh shit!" Jaden shouted as he used his Lightsaber to stab into the metal, melting through it but eventually slowing down his descent and putting him into a halt. "This fucking ship is falling apart…" However the sound of machines up above caused them to look up… before they noticed the incoming elevator moving _very _fast.

"R2? R2, shut down the ele-"

"Too late! Jump!"

The group kicked off, using grapple lines to reach an open life door, landing on their asses. "Ok, Prime Directive be damned, you're ALL getting our artificial gravity technology," Ron said as they all panted. "That is NEVER happening again."

"The AG Field… must've been damaged… from the battle…" Jaden said, before he began stand back onto his feet. "Usually it _doesn't _do that… "

"Let's get to the hangar and hope our fighters are still in flyable condition."

* * *

Grievous was NOT pleased. A curvy ship (which, in High Galactic Standard, was named USS Galaxy) had damaged the ship, and nearly sent it to its' death. "General, we've found the intruders. They're in hallway 328."

Well, at least it wasn't a TOTAL disaster. "Activate ray shields!" The droids complied with his command.

* * *

The group ran down the hall, but were forced to come to a total stop. "Ray shields."

"Wait a minute, I thought we were smarter than this!"

"Maybe we are." Ron said. "What does this shit do to an organic body?"

"Burns. Hurts like a bitch…" Jaden muttered.

"I suggest patience." Anakin said, causing Obi-wan to raise an eyebrow.

"Patience? From you?" He asked, as Anakin shrugged.

"R2 will be down here soon, and he'll lower the Ray shield." He said. And not two seconds after he said that, a loud mechanical whirring was heard as R2 sped down the halls, slamming into a door. "See?"

That was quickly followed by a number of droidekas and B2 'super' battle droids. "Don't move." The droid shocked the B2 before it kicked R2 over, and two more carried R4 and R7 into the hall. "Well. Do you have a plan B?"

"Uh…" Ron shook his head incredulously and in amusement. "I take that as a no."

* * *

The _Hand_ flew below the battle, which was getting slowly dominated by Starfleet's superior weapons and the Republic's numbers. But the battle was young, and Grievous STILL had the hostages. "Ah, yes. The Negotiator." Grievous said. "General Kenobi. We've been waiting for you."

A B1 slid past the prisoners (all of whom were wearing force cuffs and Ron was wearing double because of the Borg technology in his body) carrying their lightsabers while another had their phasers and Jaden's blasters. "That wasn't much of a rescue!"

Grievous grabbed the weapons out of the droid's hand. "And… Anakin Skywalker. I was expecting someone of your reputation to be a little… older." The general wheezed slightly.

"General Grievous. You're shorter than I expected." Grievous beit back a retort as he glanced at Ahsoka, Ron and Jaden. "Tano. I will enjoy killing you for your many escapes from my grip. And… Jaden Takeo. Son of Mandalore. you will make a fine prisoner for the Confederacy."

Jaden yawned a bit. "You done?" he asked. "Ya know, I find it kinda odd that you still worked for Dooku, Grievous… though now that I've finally met you in person, I must ask… why did you change your name, Qymaen jai Sheelal?"

Grievous actually physically recoiled at that "How did you-" he growled before Jaden cut him off.

"My father and my grandfather helped fight alongside the Kalee during the Huk Wars as Mercenaries," Jaden said. "He doubted you'd remember him of course… he fought along with you, and Ronderu… "

Grievous paused for a moment. It had been a long time since he had last heard that name, but he then growled. "You think I'll spare you because your father-" he began, but Jaden cut him off.

"No… that's not it at all," he said. "But… I think you might be interested in some information my Dad's spies discovered while investigating the Separatists… what if I told you that your shuttle, the one whose destruction put you into that body, and killed you _Izvoshra_… wasn't carried out by the Republic or Jedi?"

"What are you talking about?" Grievous demanded.

"In my left pocket, you'll find a datapad - I decided to grab it on the off chance we met today." Jaden said, as Grievous violently pulled it out. "Inside, you'll find the messages between Count Dooku, Poggle the Lesser, San Hill, and the individual known as Sidious plotting to put the Ion bomb in your shuttle. The ejector seat programed to jettison you away from the ship… so that you would become their loyal servant, fueling your pre existing hatred for the Republic and Jedi with a lie."

Grievous took the datapad before looking at the final prisoner. "You must be Pinkerton of the _Ra-Cailum_."

"I could be."

"Regardless of whether Takeo's information is real or not, you will be valuable to me." Grievous said. "Contact your ship and tell them to open fire on the Jedi Temple."

"No." Ron said. "The only reason I'm here is Sugihara, not to make this war worse than it already is. You've killed what, 50 jedi during this war? A hundred? It takes decades of training for a Force-sensitive to be a Jedi, and they are rare. In terms of pure numbers, you've evened the score that way, as the energy it took to train those Jedi would train a million of your warriors. If you continue this, you are beyond reason, beyond redemption and beyond sanity. The only thing left for you is to be put down before you ruin any more innocent lives."

The general narrowed his organic eyes before scoffing. "Idealistic Starfleet scum."

"I know that you are angry at the Jedi, Sheelal," Jaden said. "Believe me, I know what that feels like. The Jedi are responsible for the Excision, the Galidraan Massacre… if things were different, I too might be launching some crusade against them… but do you honestly believe exterminating them will change anything? That it will prove anything? You _got _your revenge when you invaded the Yam'rii, _they _were the ones who lied to the Jedi and the Republic. If they were aware of what the Yam'rii had done to your people, do you honestly believe they would have sided with them?"

Grievous paused. "No, they would not." He admitted. "But what is past has passed, and I have a debt to repay. And Pinkerton will do it for me. The Borg technology in his body will allow them to defeat the Republic, while I get to deal with the ones who betrayed me."

"We can't even control this shit: the only reason I can is because of the positronic brain in my head! You'll destroy yourselves."

If anything, Grievous seemed to beam at that. "Good."

Ahsoka shook her head incredulously. "He's insane."

The general held out their lightsabers. "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection." He placed them in pouches lining his coat.

"I'm going to want Dooku's back," Ron said. "I called dibs first."

"R2!" Anakin shouted, before the Astromech Droid made a distraction as it activated all of its functions, drawing the attention of the guards long enough for Jaden and the others to use the Force to retrieve their sabers - Jaden also grabbing Dooku's as he sliced off Ron's cuffs before handing it to him.

"Crush them!" The Jedi reclaimed their weapons, and Ahsoka pulled on their longer-ranged weapons, the compression rifle landing in Ron's hands while the phaser pistols landed on Sugihara's head. "Make them suffer!" An IG-100 Magnaguard activated an electrostaff and pulled out Ron's kilij.

"Well, this is an interesting reversal." Ron said as he activated his new lightsaber, his Borg-enhanced vision and reflexes allowing him to wield the blade as easily as a Jedi.

Jaden kicked a B1 Battle Droid away as he used his Lightsaber to cut apart two more. Meanwhile Anakin and Obi-wan confronted the first to Magnaguards who approached them as Grievous retreated to the front of the bridge.

"This is fun." Ron acted as a sniper, alongside Jaden, picking off droid after droid before trying to tackle Grievous.

The leader of the droid armies picked up an electrostaff before the two jedi confronted him, along with a VERY annoyed Ahsoka. "You LOSE, general Kenobi!" The Khaleesh stabbed the window, causing cracks to form.

"…SHIT!"

The Window blew out, as Grevious was sucked out of the ship along with the few droids left inside while the others grabbed the consoles to avoid being sucked out as well before the blast door finally closed the breach.

"Ok, it's official. We're FUCKED." Ron tapped his commbadge. "Pinkerton to _Ra-Cailum_!"

"_Go ahead, boss._"

"Get inside tractor range and get this ship into a stable orbit before it falls apart!"

"_We're en route. ETA: 2 minutes._"

"What about the MACOs?"

"They're heading back to the shuttle and getting our birds out of here: there's nothing they can do to save this POS."

"Uh, we _may _have a problem here…" Jaden said as the _Invisible Hand _began making another dive. "Two minutes ain't enough time here… Anakin! Ya think you can fly this thing?"

"I think the ability to fly this ship after all the damage it's sustained is irrelevant." Anakin said, as he took control of the ship. "Strap yourselves in."

"Engaging reverse thrusters; deploying drag fins and opening all hatches: the more drag, the better." The ship began to shudder, before they began to rock. The Invisible Hand then wrenched sharply to port. "We _Titanic_'ed."

"What?"

"We split in half! the rear end is going thataway!" Ron pointed somewhere to the right of them. "_Ra-Cailum_, status!"

"_We're in range, but we're going to need help slowing that thing down for a landing. The _Galaxy _and _Raging Tempest are closest, and we're engaging tractor beams now."

"Don't worry, we're still flying half a ship." Obi-wan said sarcastically as they tried to slow its descent, as the hull of the vessel began turning red from reentry.

"Angels 50 and dropping like a rock! _Ra-Cailum_!"

"_We're doing what we can, sir!_"

The captain shook his head. "Fuck it! Prepare for emergency transport! Beam us onto the ship as soon as possible!"

"What about the ship?"

"As soon as we're off, weapons free! _Raging Tempest_, do you copy?!"

"_Uh, BIT of a problem there, Ron!_" Takeshi said. "_Our transporters can't lock onto you! The _Invisible Hand _is still projecting a Transport Inhibitor Field! No one is going _anywhere _with that on!_"

Jaden checked the consoles before slamming his fists. "Damnit, the controls to the inhibitor got fried!" He shouted, "And we don't have the time to run down and turn it off manually!"

"Breaking atmosphere!" Anakin shouted, as the _Hand _finally got into the atmosphere, as firefighting craft began to fly beside it. "_We'll guide you in._" One of the pilots said as the began extinguishing the fires along the hull of the vessel.

"We're not going to survive re-entry at this rate. Ra-Cailum, reinforce our structural integrity before this bucket collapses!"

The Sovereign-Class ship extended its' shields around as much of the ship as it could, but it was not enough.

"We're coming in too hot!"

"Well, fuck." The Ra-Cailum had to veer away as the wreck impacted a landing field, skidding along for over three kilometers and barrelling over a building before coming to a stop. "The landing… of the D's saucer section… was smoother. And the terrain on Veridian III was HILLY."

"Not… the fucking… time… Ron…" Jaden muttered with a sigh as he slumped to the floor. "Holy shit that was close…"

"We're alive… and in one piece…" Ahsoka muttered. "That's all… I care about… right now…"

"Another happy landing."

"BULLSHIT!"

* * *

**Shuttlecraft **_**Birkin**_ **\- en route to Senate building**

* * *

The MACO shuttle landed at the building where the Republic's government made its' power known, and the rear hatch released the Chancellor from the shuttle, allowing him to walk out to be greeted by the Jedi. "I am never flying on a ship that does not have transporters again. I will use the Doctor's mobile emitter to MAKE internal transporter nodes if I have to!"

"Sounds good to me…" Jaden said as he walked off. "_That _was fucking chaos… but goddamn it _was _a bit fun though…"

Ron snorted. "My idea of fun does not involve crashing ships with the inability to beam off. I spent 8 years as a Borg drone, and I'm not in the mood to die less than a year into being freed."

A beep was heard as both men paused. "What was that?" Beep-beep. Ron looked at the ground near the landing pad, following the sound. It turned out to be a small box with a grill on top. Ron picked it up and flipped the grill upwards.

"What the hell is that?"

"A 2260s era communicator." He flipped it over, finding a logo on it.

"Ain't that the logo for Starfleet Intelligence?" Jaden asked. "Why's that just lying around here?"

Both of them disappeared in showers of light, appearing in a ready room. "I hate SI." Ron muttered.

"Everyone does." Both men looked at a man sitting in the ready room's desk. His hair was closely cropped, and he wore a leather uniform without rank or ensigna. "My apologies, but getting you here through normal means would not have been easy."

"Starfleet Intelligence LOVES to do shit like this." Ron muttered.

"My branch loves it more." The man said. "The name is Franklin Drake, Starfleet Technical Intelligence Group. A lot of people like to call us-"

"Section 31," Ron said sighing. "The shadow organization everyone knows about, but doesn't talk about."

"Okay…" Jaden said. "Very confused here… What the hell is Section 31, and why the hell am _I _here?"

"Captain, the floor is yours."

Ron sighed. "Section 31 takes its' name from the earth Starfleet charter: Article 14, Section 31, to be exact: 'In the event of an emergency, a Starfleet officer is allowed to do whatever they deem necessary to resolve it'. During the Dominion War, it was rumored that they were a semi-rogue group that nearly killed the founders with a morphogenic virus. It's been assumed that STIG is only the public face of Sanjuichi."

"San-what?"

Franklin smiled. "It's Japanese, the man's native tongue. Sanjuichi literally means 'thirty-one'. It's a common mistake to think of us as Section 31. We bend the rules a little, but we never break them. As for why you're here… you're involved. The STIG has run enough scans of that amulet to be able to replicate the damn thing."

"That was fast."

"We have a Stryker-Class science ship on this side."

"So, I am guessing your here to tell us the 'good' news?" Jaden asked.

"There is no good news, Mr. Takeo," Franklin said. "The amulet is a psionic amplifier, similar to a Vulcan katric ark. There is a mind inside that thing, and it's generating triolic energy."

"I hate being right."

"So… Palpatine is the Sith Lord."

"There is a chance that he isn't: that he is force-sensitive and channels the energy without knowing it," he said. "We had an… incident like that in 2368 with a human that turned out to be… Q."

"I _highly _doubt Palpatine is one of those 'Q' guys I keep hearing about," Jaden said. "I'm going to be operating under the assumption he is a Sith lord until proven otherwise. With Dooku and Durge dead, Ventress MIA, and Grievous the only living commander of the CIS, the war probably will be coming to an end soon… if we kill Grievous or if he leaves the CIS, the only ones in charge of the Droid Armies will be the CIS founders - and those Chakaar are just a bunch of spineless cowards. With the war Over… no idea what Palpatine's plan is after that if we're right."

"We'll worry about Palpatine when the time comes. In the meantime, we have a number of ships shadowing the Jedi on every planet where there's a major presence, per your request."

"I still think the Order needs to get its' ass kicked a bit more."

"They've gotten their asses handed to them enough." Ron said. "They've lost, what, 400 members of the Order to this war? And more are becoming more and more disillusioned that they've lost their way. Grievous killed most of them, the rest either turned or went insane-"

"They haven't changed at all, Ron." Jaden said shaking his head. "Sure some of them are waking up, but most of them? They're all still convinced they're Paladins of Light…" He then sighed. "But in the end, it's not my choice."

"If Palpy's the Sith, they'll signal their stupidity," Ron said. "Besides, we can't save them all. There are only a few ships on our side allowed to use cloaking devices regularly. The _Ra-Cailum_'s an irregular ship, so we're allowed. The _Defiant_-types are tiny enough for near-total stealth, and the _Devron_-types have better EPS networks. The new 'intel' ships were designed from the ground up to use cloaks, and we barely have 30 of the damn things. The Jedi WILL suffer from this."

"So… what do we do now?" Jaden asked.

"Now? The waiting game." Franklin said. "Command is reassigning the _Raging Tempest_ to Kuat, in order to talk to them about expanding our presence here: a few worlds are requesting Federation membership. Corellia and Naboo are vocal about it and they're qualified. Kuat might be another one, or we might just sign a contract with them to produce our ships. Either way, it's still going to be a few months before this shit comes to an end."

"I _hate _the waiting game…" Jaden muttered.

"That's Intelligence for you." Franklin said. "We mostly wait and see, not taking action unless we're sure. Except, of course, those rogues in S31."

Ron narrowed his eyes at the agent. "Thank you, Agent Drake. Keep us in the loop."

"Of course." The two disappeared in showers of light once more, reappearing inside the Senate building.

"You've dealt with them before?"

"I have." Ron said nodding. "STIG is a pain in my ass. I've had to deal with their shit on half a dozen occasions, mostly on Nimbus III. Then there was the time I had to go back in time to stop the Devidians from stealing an entire sector of space. THAT was a logistical nightmare."

Jaden sighed "Well, all we can do is prepare as much as we can." He said. "I'm giving my father a heads up… even if the Clone Wars are almost done… I think this whole situation is only beginning."

"It's always the beginning."

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_

* * *

"We've been reassigned to Kuat," Rina informed. "Looks like command wants to expand our operations over here, and those shipyards would come in handy."

"Makes sense," Takeshi replied. "Still, I think things are coming to a head over here - and I have a Bad Feeling about what's coming."

"Your Spatial Awareness?" Linda asked.

"Yeah," Takeshi confirmed. "Practically screaming at me that something bad's coming, but I'm not sure what."

"Message from the _Ra-Cailum_," Rina informed again. "Be ready for the Republic to face-heel. Something's going straight to shit, and I don't want any of us to get killed. Watch your ass."

Takeshi spun the Tempest around as the computer plotted a course to Kuat. "Acknowledge, and tell him to keep an eye on things, too - especially Knight Skywalker. My Spatial Awareness is telling me there's more of a bond between him and Senator Amidala than they're letting on - and someone might exploit that to their own ends." A few seconds later, the _Raging Tempest_ accelerated to FTL.

* * *

**USS **_**Enterprise**_**/USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

The two ships were currently docked, allowing the larger _Enterprise_ crew to help repair the _Ra-Cailum_, which was stressed from the maneuver to keep the _Invisible Hand_ from falling apart on impact. It would be enough to get back to Mandalore to fully repair the ship for the shitstorm ahead. As such, Jaden was on board, as well as a guest from the Jedi Order: Barriss Offee.

"I've… heard the Mandalorians have been making allies among the Council of Neutral Systems," Barriss said as she and Jaden walked down the halls of the _Ra-Cailum._

"Since they're neutral, the Republic can't really help them out unless the Separatists are involved," Jaden said. "While many of the 1,500 star systems of the council have their own defense forces, Mandalore has the largest military presence out of all of them, thanks to no short part by the Klingons. The Mandalorians are simply helping other systems who aren't picking any sides in this war, defending against Pirates, Mercenary bands, or any Sep's who get out of line. With their support and resources our influence has expanded considerably, especially on worlds like Taris and other systems closest to Mandalorian Space."

"I see…" Barriss said, "And… what do your people plan to _do _with that support?"

"To do our job - protect the worlds who want to stay _out _of the war," Jaden said. "I don't doubt that once the war is over, most of them will probably side with whoever wins… but my Father hopes to build bridges with neighboring systems and sectors to make more permanent alliances… a lot of the systems in the rim worlds don't quite like the idea of sticking with the Republic after the war. And considering Mand'alor's new policies, they're more willing to work for us than either the Republic or Separatists. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if they secede from the Republic all together and join Mando Space."

"I heard that Naboo and Corellia are considering joining the Federation, as well as retaining their place in the Republic."

Jaden hummed in thought at that "That's going to cause issues." He said. "Naboo would be easy, but part of me doubts Corellia will really go through with it - they _are _fiercely independent, remember. Plus if they join the Federation, all their credits mean jackshit to the Feds, groups like the Corellian Engineering Corporation would have some… difficulties. But the Feds won't interfere in their affairs as long as they don't bloom into big problems."

He then glanced at the Padawan. "What about you?" he asked. "I don't think the Jedi wanted to send you here just because they want to help fix the ship."

"The Jedi Order's not a fan of the Ra-Cailum," Barriss said, before she bit her lip slightly. "But…. thanks to Starfleet I… was freed, freed while the Council would've just locked me away… to be honest… I'm wondering if I should leave the Order. And if I do, where do I go? Starfleet? I don't want anything to do with the Sith. And the Mandalorians aren't fans of Jedi at all."

Jaden snorted. "Oh please, since when did we ever say we hated the Jedi?" he asked. "Sure, we have a low opinion on most of your members like Mace Windu, but we know there are some very talented and skilled Jedi who aren't tied down by the Code." He smiled. "If you wanted to join the Mandalorians, all you need to do is ask. We'd love to have someone like you with the Mando Knights."

"I'll have to think about it."

"_Bridge to all hands: repairs for quantum slipstream jump to Mandalore are complete. Decoupling from _Enterprise." The Ra-Cailum banked slightly, breaking away from the Odyssey-Class flagship before the ship jumped into hyperspace and engaged her QSD.

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_ **\- near Kuat**

* * *

The _Raging Tempest_ sat in orbit above the Republic's main starship manufacturing world. Another ship had ferried a team of diplomats into the area, so Takeshi and his ship were simply there for extra security.

"This seems to be a very bad idea," Linda remarked, having gone over the data on the world below. "Kuat is a very caste-imposed world. What if they decide to take what equipment we give them and sell it to the highest bidder?"

"We hunt down whatever tech they sold and take it back," Takeshi replied. "With force, if necessary. I'm sure Starfleet Command has plans in mind in case something like that happens."

"There is still that problem with the Undine," Kim reminded. "They could be making us overextend ourselves here while they do something that isn't exactly… pleasant." There WERE still Undine infiltrators in Starfleet. That was why J'mpok gave them the finger and invaded the Gorn Hegemony: he didn't trust them. But that wasn't the act of a Klingon warrior; it was the act of a Romulan. At least, that was what Pinkerton implied two months prior with his insulting spree. "Happy new year, indeed."

"Well, whatever happens, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Takeshi remarked, looking out the viewscreen at the ring of dockyard facilities around Kuat. "You have to admit, though, that view is rather interesting - I don't think any world in our galaxy has an artificial 'ring' of contiguous dockyard facilities like that."

"That is because we have had thousands of years to build the facility, Captain." A woman wearing a blue headdress entered the bridge, escorted by one of the ship's security personnel. The woman in question was Onara Kuat, head of Kuat Drive Yards, who wanted to tour the _Raging Tempest_ in lieu of the _Ra-Cailum_ or, more importantly, the _Enterprise_.

"I see," Takeshi replied to the woman. "Still, it doesn't make it any less impressive."

"I heard that this ship's predecessor class, the… _Defiant_, was it?"

"Yes."

"Yes, the _Defiant_. It was your first true warship. A shame it didn't last longer. How was the ship destroyed, again? The files didn't have any information on how the _Defiant_ pathfinder was destroyed."

"That's one of those things we don't talk about much," Takeshi admitted. "It was during one of the last battles of the Dominion war about 35 years ago… our enemies fielded a new weapon that basically disabled the ship. And not just that ship - only one ship in the allied fleet at the time did not suffer from the effects of that weapon."

"The Breen liked to play with their food," Linda added. "Most of the torpedoes they used only grazed the Defiant. It was only after they detected escape pods launching that they destroyed the ship. And that battle came AFTER the Breen attacked Earth."

Kuat seemed to be mulling that over. "From what I have heard, almost no one has attempted to attack your world."

"Yeah, the Breen were the only ones that actually pulled off a successful attack like that," Takeshi replied. "The Borg have tried a couple of times, but we've always managed to stop them. No one else has really tried."

"And if negotiations are successful here, you will have another source of ships to protect your worlds."

"You don't sound pleased about that," Takeshi noticed.

"I am an opponent of the Jedi Order, Captain, and you have… ties to them. You are allies in all but name, I would think."

Takeshi sighed. "Individual Jedi are one thing - they're people, just like anyone else, and some are easier to get along with than others, just like anyone else." He frowned. "But the Order as a whole… I can't speak for the rest of Starfleet on this, but I personally don't like them after what happened with my daughter."

Kuat's expression didn't change, but Takeshi had the feeling she was pleased at that.

* * *

**Mandalore**

* * *

The _Ra-Cailum_ dropped out of slipstream… right before the ship was rocked with explosions, some of which ruptured the warp nacelles.

"GODDAMN IT! What the HELL just happened?!"

Sonja shook her head as she looked over the damage on the MSD. "I told you that we shouldn't've entered slipstream. We STILL had some damage from trying to pull the IH out. And slipstream just… complicated the issue."

A few moments later, the turbolift opened as Jaden stepped out. "The _hell _was that all about?" He asked.

"Quantum slipstream can degrade the hull at the molecular level if we're not careful."

"Let me guess-"

"We weren't being careful. We were in a rush to get this ship to a proper shipyard."

Jaden sighed "Alright, I'll contact my father - he'll send a ship to help us get into the Spacedocks," he said, moving to the comm station.

"We'll take a shuttle to the surface with our guest." Ron said, "I would think your father and her have a LOT to talk about." Ron left the bridge while Jaden got an uplink to the planet's surface.

"Message is sent - they're sending a ship over to drag the _Ra-Cailum _to the space docks now," Jaden said, as he stood up straight. "I'll get my fighter ready and head on over there in advance." With that said, he turned towards the turbolift as he left to head for the hangar.

* * *

Bariss, now wearing what counted for normal civilian attire, was on her way to the shuttlebay. She had every intention of speaking with Mandalore, as well as maintaining some sort of communion with Starfleet. The Jedi order needed an outside source to commit it to a reformation, and Starfleet was going to be that source, as they lived up to the Order's true ideals.

Upon entering the hangar, she soon found Jaden who was preparing his fighter to head out. "Thanks for helping me with the maintenance," he said to a starfleet engineer. "These StarVipers are still pretty new, that last battle helped show us where she needs improvements."

"The boss should've told you by now, Commander: 'rocks to replicators, Corps of Engineers are the masters'," the engineer said. "If there's anything mechanical, we can get it to work again after a few hours of study. And maybe an hour of beating it with a wrench."

Jaden chuckled a bit. "So I hear," he said, before he noticed Barriss. "Ah, Barriss! You ready to head over to Mandalore?"

She nodded. "Yes. I heard that we're going to be with another Jedi, though. We didn't pick any up at Coruscant, so-"

"The Jedi in question, Padawan, is me." Celeste Morne made herself known as she entered the bay, escorted by two security officers wearing something that seemed akin to Mandalorian armor, only closer-fitting and without the trademark helmets.

"Ah, good to see you here, Celeste," Jaden said nodding. "Ready to go?"

"Yes. I'm hoping the Mandalorians have changed over the past three millennia."

"Don't count on it." The commander of the _Ra-Cailum_ entered the hangar bay carrying what appeared to be an old slugthrower machine gun and his nigh-ubiquitous compression rifle. "They're still warriors. They just outgrew the stupidity."

"What the hell is that thing?" Celeste asked.

The smile on his face radiated pride in his weapon. "THIS is the M1928A1 Thompson submachine gun, commonly known as the Tommy gun," Ron elaborated. "Or more fittingly as the Chicago Typewriter."

"Typewriter?"

"It made a noise that, at a distance, sounded like the clacking of a mechanical typewriter," he said. "I got this thing on Sigma Iota II."

"So… why are you bringing one of those with us to Mandalore?" Jaden asked in curiosity. "Expecting a fight or something?"

"Nope." He said, "It's a present for your pop. I've got three extra stick mags with 20 copper-coated tritanium bullets, and a LOT of 50 round drums for him."

Jaden blinked in surprise, but shrugged. "Well alright, he won't turn down getting a new exotic weapon," he said before climbing into his fighter. "I'll see ya'll at Mandalore!"

Ron walked towards a Class-1 shuttlecraft, labeled Ra-Horakhty. The design was ancient, dating back to the 2250s with the Class-F, before it was refit into the Class-1. Ron figured it would be fitting: transporting an ancient Jedi in an old shuttle. "Ms. Offee, I wasn't expecting you."

"I… am hoping to get an audiance with the Mand'alor," she said. "I need to speak to him about something."

"Well, take a seat. I'm not a bad shuttle pilot. I taught my sister." Ron hopped into the pilot's seat, shutting the rear hatch as soon as Celeste and Bariss were on board. "_Ra-horakthy_ to bridge: open the bay doors. Jaden and I are headin down to the surface."

"_Copy that, boss man. Doors are opening._" The clamshell doors opened, allowing them to leave the secondary shuttlebay at the tail end of the ship. The Mandalorian fighter took off first, followed by the _Ra-Horakhty_.

"_Follow my lead - we'll head to the capitol building in Keldabe,_" Jaden said on the comm. "_There's a landing pad there anyways._"

Ron turned the shuttle to follow Jaden's craft, wincing at the holes in his ship's hull, and the ruptured heat exchangers on the warp nacelles. "We're not leaving Mandalore for a while." The two craft entered the atmosphere, flying over the badly scarred world. Mandalore had suffered greatly over the past 3000 years: practically the only real livable areas were the domed cities. But that could change, as that was the second reason Ron was there: to offer assistance re-terraforming the planet. "40 years, Jaden."

"_Pardon?_" Jaden asked.

"The main reason I was heading for Mandalore was to ask your father if we could help begin re-terraforming the planet." Ron said. "Unless you've noticed, your homeworld is… a little fucked."

"_Yeah, a widespread orbital bombardment does that,_" Jaden said. "_He'll probably accept… won't like that it'll take 40 years, but its better than nothing._"

"Unless you want to risk Genesis, it's as good as you get."

"Genesis?" Bariss asked.

Ron winced as he looked back at Bariss. "It was… a terraforming project. Basically, Genesis is life… from lifelessness. In the 23rd Century, Dr. David Marcus developed the Genesis Device, which created a planet from the matter of the Mutara Nebula and the USS _Reliant_."

"What happened?"

"The planet blew itself to bits three weeks later, along with the USS _Enterprise_."

"Which one?"

"The first. THAT, plus the Klingons bitching, caused us to abandon Genesis. It's useless as anything but a weapon of mass destruction, and no one wanted to risk using it. Not even the Dominion."

"_Might be a good thing,_" Jaden said. "_Maybe one of these days Genesis could work, but not in our lifetime for now._"

The two craft entered Keldabe airspace, the Ra-Horakhty setting down on the closest landing pad a'le VTOL. "Well, we're on the ground. I've got a gun to give to the big man down here. Let's get a move on, shall we?"

"Right, right come on." Jaden said as he left his StarViper as the small group approached Mand'alor's estate. As they entered, they came in on Aren who was having a meeting with a Klingon on the holoscreen.

"I'm sending the Shipyards the new and improved designs we've made for the new series of _Predator-_class Carriers." Aren said, "They're old ships, but they're quite rugged. With these modifications it should bring the class into more modern standards."

"_The Trabe would be honored to know that their ships will have new life breathed into them. We will offer what assistance we can to refit them to modern standards. The Kazon lack transporter and replicator technology._" The Klingon smirked slightly. "_We can possibly retrofit them to carry your versions of the birds of prey we have given you._"

Aren smirked as well. "Now THAT is an idea I like," he said. "I'm sending them over now. I'll contact you later." The Klingon nodded before the screen went dark as he turned to Jaden, Ron and the two Jedi. "Jaden, Ron, glad to see you here," he said. "I heard what happened to your ship, Ron, we'll help get her back up to speed."

"Nothing a week in a shipyard will solve. Catch." Ron tossed the Thompson into Aren's hands. "I picked that up on Sigma Iota II. It's a Terran submachine gun from the 20th Century. It was still viable even in the 24th Century, with a few… modifications."

"Oh?" Aren said, as he inspected the weapon, "Very interesting design… what sort of modifications are we talking about, though?"

"I've had the sights modified for easier use and better aim, most of the internals are made of tritanium/ceramic composite, and unlike the stock one, I've modified it so it doesn't rattle. That used to be a problem when the British used them during the Second World War on Earth."

"Very good…" Aren said, aiming down the sights before he put the weapon aside. "Though I doubt the only reason you came here was to give me a new weapon for my collection… what do you need?"

Ron let out a breath. "The Federation Council has authorized me to drop off a set of terraforming units to clean the planet up a little: restore it from a Class-M4 to a Class-M standard."

"M4?"

"Class M planet that suffered an orbital bombardment," he elaborated. "Unless you've noticed, Mandalore needs a little clean up work."

Aren hummed in thought. "I heard the Federation had terraforming technology..." he said, "I also heard that it takes quite a while to get the desired results… but if you think you can restore Mandalore back to its old self, I'd gladly accept any help."

"It'll take forty years, but Mandalore's beauty will be restored to her." Ron said. "Unless you want to risk using fucking Genesis."

"I've heard of it." Aren said nodding. "The Klingons seem to think it only failed because of lack of heavy elements in the Mutara Nebula."

"Believe me, I want to believe that to be true. Refugees would love to have a new home again. But we're not going to risk it."

"Neither shall I… though I hope one of these days we can test it somewhere else," Aren said as he stood up. "Over the last thousands of years, many worlds were reduced to ashes from all the wars that have been fought… some we managed to get back onto their feet, but not all of them… it would be nice to see life restored to those worlds so quickly… but for now, I suppose we're stuck with the old fashioned way."

"Then I'll have the units sent down as soon as possible," Ron said. "We also have two people who want to speak with you. One we picked up on our little search, which proved… fruitful."

"Oh?" Aren asked as he stepped towards the two women. "I recognize you, Miss Barriss… I've heard about your exploits during the Clone Wars, you fight well… and I am glad to see your yourself again after what's happened on Coruscant."

Bariss bowed slightly. "Due to recent events… I believe I may be leaving the Jedi Order soon. They have lost sight of their duties recently, and while they may find their way again, I don't want to be a part of the Order. I was hoping that you may be able to help me."

"Ah," Aren said nodding as he smiled a bit. "I see… you wish to join the Mandalorians, correct?"

"I… may as well." She said, "There are common misconceptions about the Mandalorians. I hope to dispel them."

Ron smiled. "Ex stellis scientia et veritate." He said, causing Celeste gave him a look. "It's latin: from the stars, knowledge and truth. She'd make an excellent Starfleet officer with THAT outlook on life."

"And a superb Mandalorian," Aren said, walking towards her. "If you truly do wish to join the Mandalorian Union, Miss Offee, all you need to do is ask. You are not the first Jedi to leave the order and join us… especially now with the Clone Wars. Multiple Jedi who left the order and Republic often con here to seek out new lives, whether it's with the Mandalorian Defense Forces, or seeking for more modest ways to live. We'd be happy to have you join us."

Bariss bowed slightly. "Thank you, Mandalore."

"Well, we're going to be busy over the next few weeks, aren't we?"

"I think you like it that way, Captain."

"Fuck yes, I do!"

* * *

**Utapau system**

* * *

Grievous was annoyed beyond words. First, the Jedi escaped his grasp AGAIN, absconding with the Chancellor and destroying his flagship with assistance from Starfleet, and now he was questioning his cause for the Separatists. Sure, the IGB was supporting his people, but they may have been responsible for doing… THIS to him in the first place.

He had looked over the information Jaden had given him… it was genuine. IGB was responsible for causing him to become what he was today. More machine than anything. _They _were responsible for killing his comrades!

'_I will disconnect some of my Droid Armies with the main systems… _' Grievous thought as his shuttle landed on Utapau. '_They will only take orders from ME from now on… not from Sidious, not from the Council… they will be MINE._'

He marched out of his craft, heading straight for the lift leading to the comm room. First thing he would do would ask Sidious for instructions as to what to do with the Council with Dooku's death. The second thing he would do would be getting information on who did this to him. If it was Dooku, then his revenge would be focused on Starfleet and the Jedi for taking away the object of his vengeance. If it was Sam Hill, then he would die. Painfully. If it was Sidious himself… that was a bridge he could jump off of when he got to it. The lift opened up, and he approached the comm device, activating it. "Yes, Lord Sidious?"

"_General Grievous... I suggest you move the separatist leaders to Mustafar._"

"It will be done, my lord," Grevious said.

"_The end of the war is coming, General._" The dark lord said.

"But the death of Count Dooku-"

"_His death was a necessary loss,_" he said. "_Soon I will have a new apprentice, one far younger and more powerful!_"

* * *

**Mandalore**

* * *

With the limited assistance from the Federation, Mandalore was coming back to life. Industries devastated by the reign of the Shadow Collective and sheer neglect were being revived, and training for the warriors in the ways of the Mandalorians was going swimmingly. One could say Mandalorian Space was entering a new golden age thanks to their new allies in the Klingon Empire. Slowly, but surely, former neutral star systems such as Taris have begun siding with the Mandalorians for protection, most notably against pirate gangs such as the Black Suns whom the Republic was practically turning a blind eye towards, but the Mandalorians and Klingons were beginning to effectively crack down on their operations in allied space.

The _Ra-Cailum's_ crew were helping in that regard as well, helping the Mandalorians understand the more difficult equipment they were now dealing with. In particular, the more advanced sensors and shielding technologies that were installed on the _Predator_-Class carriers that were now under construction. Much like the upgraded Klingon ships, they had more advanced shielding and weapons, but they still had one glaring weakness: lack of transporters. A problem Jaden was trying to convince Ron to solve.

"Look, we know how to make a transporter thanks to the data we retrieved from the _B'Vat,_" Jaden said. "We've cleared out an area for them, but we just could use someone with more experience with Transporter tech to help out with the final process… we don't want what happened to the Kazon, what, 40 years ago, to happen here."

"Acknowledging ignorance is never a bad thing. The Kazon didn't get the idea, but you're smart enough to just come and say it." Ron kneeled as he looked at the EPS taps. "A few hours of work to adapt them, but that's easy enough. Can you hand me a microcaliper and a pair of laser torches?"

"Got it," Jaden said, reaching into the toolbox as he pulled out the aforementioned equipment. "So… what's our gameplan for Palpy when he makes his move? Whatever it is?"

"Hopefully, keep as many people from losing their lives as possible. I know that Palpy's probably planning around our counter-plan, so..."

"We have to plan a plan around that plan?"

"...I wouldn't word it that way, but it works." Ron began making the connections to the EPS grid that would power the unit. "So, any plans for the next few months? Your father's been pushing to have a Mandalorian unit on some of our ships on this side of the rift, and to be honest, the last thing I want is a bunch of Mandos that might cause trouble on my ship. Think you could screen a few people that would be more willing to not cause a fight out?"

"Plenty," Jaden said. "Most of our people got the message to not to piss off the Federation. The worst you'd probably need to worry about would be one getting drunk of their rocker every now and then. I'll forward you the Mando's who are… less likely to drink."

"Thank you." Ron made the finer adjustments to the connectors before getting up. "I'll install the datalinks to the pattern buffers before putting it on a level-one diagnostic. After that, it's more or less ready to use."

"That's it?"

"You guys did most of the work for me getting this shit in here. The diagnostic is the REAL time consumer: takes hours to complete." Ron got to work on just that, working the foreign consoles like he had been doing it all his life. "So, how the hell did your father get in with the Mandalorians? I thought that, for the most part, Mandos hated Jedi."

"That's because my father use to be a Jedi," Jaden said. "He left the order not long after he became a knight, unable to deal with the idiotic hypocrisy of the order, and after discovering his lineage to the old Mandalorian warrior clans. When he met my mom and they got… close, he up and left the Order, eventually assembling his own band of Mandalorian warriors on a captured and modified _Dreadnaught _heavy cruiser. He's been wanting to rebuild the Mandalorians in a more… balanced sense, taking into account the concerns of the New and Old Mandalorian factions. He's been following the teachings of the first Mandalorian force user known - Dorjander Kace, who founded the Mandalorian Knights. My father wants to make something similar to that… a new Mando Knights order to stand against rogue Jedi or Sith. Mando's may distrust Jedi… but that doesn't mean we distrust all force users in general."

"Well, at least you've got one ally. Not counting the Klinks." Ron pressed a key, and a woman's voice responded with 'Level-1 diagnostic in process. Estimated time to completion, 6 hours, 12 minutes.' "Enough time to play a few games of hoverball or kick my ass in a lightsaber duel or five. Then again, I need to regenerate. Been on my feet for the past 78 hours, and those power cells don't last forever."

"Well you're the guest here in Mandalore," Jaden said smirking a bit. "Whatcha wanna do?"

"A few hours in an alcove or about ten minutes hooked up to the warp core would get me ready for just about anything."

"Uh..."

"Direct voltage. Not the best of ideas, but I think I'm going to be a very called on man for the next few days, so…"

"Whatever floats your boat, man." Jaden said with a shrug.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Ron left the transporter room, right before Jaden got a call in.

"_Jaden, there's a Starfleet ship entering orbit:_ Ambassador_-Class. Her commander is requesting to speak with you._"

Ron sighed a bit, "I'll talk to them in a bit," he said.

"You know him?"

"We went to the Academy together," Ron said. "Shared a room for a year and a half until we graduated, then we were assigned to the _Reliant_. Afterwards, I jumped to another ship, and… you know the rest."

"Alright, but what is he doing _here?_" Jaden asked, as the two headed for the bridge. "And why does he want to talk to us?"

"There's rumors goin' around that he works with STIG," Ron said. "The Ambassador's a big tank-y ship, built to do just about anything, and those things are popular with Starfleet for more than one reason."

"Those being?"

"One of the Ambassadors was an E."

"Alright, that's nice and all but you didn't answer my question," Jaden said as they entered a turbolift. "Why is he HERE?"

"I don't know. Cobb's assignments never overlap with mine." The doors shut as they headed for the bridge of the Mandalorian ship, where Mandalorian and Starfleet personnel were retrofitting the ship for combat. "Captains on the bridge!"

"Sonja, don't. We've got a caller?"

"It's your old friend, alright: the _Independence_. Clearly, we've got something he needs us to do."

Ron blinked at that, "Such as?" he asked.

Sonja just shrugged, "That's something you gotta ask him, he's being very tight lipped and he doesn't look happy. In fact he looked like he hadn't slept in days." she said.

"Put him up on the big screen." The bridge of the _Ambassador_-Class ship appeared on screen. "Hoi, Cobby boy. What's up?"

The said person, was in a Federation Captain's uniform, and had brown hair in a military crew cut, brown eyes, and looked like he hadn't slept in a month, if the dark rings around his eyes was any indication. Joseph Cobb sighed at the nickname, as he rubbed his temples.

"_Ron, please don't use that nickname right now,_" he said. "_I've been having a bad month already, chasing that killer cyborg all over the damn galaxy, and now I've got another problem._"

"Forgive me for trying to be friendly, then. What can I do to help? The _Ra-Cailum_'s still under repair."

"_Yeah, sorry about that,_" said Joseph, before he yawned. "_Damn I need a nap. Anyway, the reason why I'm here is because after a little _skirmish _with that psycho, we found something in on one of the transports of his fleet. Looks like a suspended animation pod, but damn thing looks ancient._"

"And you know how much I like mysteries. Send it over to the _Ra-Cailum_'s science labs. THOSE, thankfully, are still intact. And get some sleep, before I'm forced to stun your ass for your own good."

Joseph gave Ron a deadpan look, "_Oh ha ha, very funny._" he said, "_You say that because I did same thing to you when you were obsessed in catching that Romulan Wanna-be Queen. Just be careful with whoever is inside that, my doctor said whoever is inside is in stable condition, but rough handling could be dire._"

Ron smiled. "Good thing we're used to handling things with care. We'll take a look at it as soon as I get back to the tool Box." Cobb scoffed at the fleet's nickname for the Ra-Cailum, given its' status as the unofficial flagship of the Corps of Engineers.

"_Right, sending it over to you now,_" he said, before his face turned serious. "_But DON'T open it till I get there. I'm letting you take a look at it because I trust you to keep quiet about this, but don't forget it was one of my ops teams that found it. Now excuse me, I need to get some sack time. Cobb out._"

The link cut out, and Ron chuckled. "This is always fun."

"Any ideas what could be inside?" Jaden asked.

"Might be a box full of weapons, might be a cryo container. Only one way to find out. I'll get back to the Ra-Cailum and begin the work-ups."

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_ **\- 2 hours later**

* * *

Analysis of the damn thing was proving to be difficult due to the fact that most of the ship's systems were still offline. "Fucking EPS network isn't even working, so I can't exactly use the main computer for this." Ron kicked the box, ignoring the pain from stubbing his toe on it.

"Well, you can now open it, since I'm here now," Ron turned and saw Joseph standing at the doorway. He looked a little bit better, but still had the rings around his eyes. Joseph blinked as he saw Ron looking at him up down. "What?"

"You've either lost weight, or my eyes need adjusting." He pulled out his phaser, adjusting the settings on it.

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right?"

"No, I'm not thinking what you think I'm thinking. I'm DOING what you think I'm thinking." He fired at the lid of the box, beginning to cut open the seal.

"If this thing blows up and kills whoever is inside of it, I'll be sure to have your ship impounded, and you busted back down to ensign!" Joseph shouted.

"Relax. Unlike you, I can do this sleep-deprived and not cause any unnecessary damage." He ceased fire, then activated his personal shield to lift up the red-hot covering, throwing it to the deck. He froze before tapping his commbadge. "Pinkerton To Takeo."

"_What is it? We're running some final tests with the Transporter. They're working now, thanks for the hand._" Jaden said.

"Well..." ron looked at the inside of the box. It was a cyrotube… with a woman wearing what appeared to be Galactic War-era Mandalorian armor. "I think we're going to need you down here."

* * *

It was dark, she didn't know where she was. Then she heard voices. They were low but she can still hear them quite clearly.

"_Okay what is it you… wanna… tell me…" _said one voice, a young man's. "_Shit! She's alive!?"_

"_Wait, what do you mean by that?" _said another voice.

"_Ron, this woman. She's Shae Vizla, an infamous bounty hunter from the Great Galactic War!" _said the previous voice.

"_Any relation to the asshole you guys put down when we got here? They share the same surname."_

"_No clue if they're related. But she has a REAL big grudge against Jedi, since one killed her brother. She's a quick draw, and is skilled with a jetpack and a flamethrower. She did work for the Sith Empire for a time, but had a falling out with them after a clan of fellow Mandalorians were betrayed and massacred by them after the Sacking of Coruscant."_

She began to regain her sight, seeing two men wearing similar uniforms, and a man wearing what looked like Mandalorian armor. That was when she saw one of the two men wearing a lightsaber. A curved-hilt one, no less. "I wouldn't attempt moving, lady."

She looked and saw one of the men, who looked like he hadn't slept in while giving her a stern look.

"You just woke up from cryo, and trying to do something such as escaping will only make you sick and hurt yourself," the man said, as he moved to her left side.

"W-Where… am I?" she rasped out.

"You're in orbit of Mandalore, on board the United Federation of Planets starship Ra-Cailum. I'm her captain, Ronald Pinkerton. This is Joseph Cobb, captain of the Independance, who found your box and that is Jaden Takeo, son of Mandalore the Redeemer."

Shae Vizla's eyes widened at that and turned to Jaden.

"Son… of Mand'alor?" she asked, and Jaden sighed a bit.

"Yeah, things have, changed a lot since your era came to an end," he said.

"Changed, how?" she said. "Last I remember we were dealing with that Dark Side version of that Cha'kaar Revan on Yavin 4!"

"Empire's dead, Mandalorians got screwed and the Republic's at war again. That's more or less how it is in a nutshell. It's been about 3500 years, give or take a century."

Shae's eyes widened at that. Over three and a half millennia? How was that possible?

She then placed her hand on her head as she felt a headache coming.

"How the hell did this happen? All I remember is getting ambushed by some Imperial Guardsmen and thrown into this thing," she said, but then blinked as she noticed something.

"Is there a problem?"

"I'm not sure. Would you call me looking like a young woman a problem?" She looked like she was in her late teens or early twenties again, rather than in her 40s.

All three of the men blinked at that, and Jaden looked at the Pod and immediately got a better look at it, until he saw a symbol of the Old Sith Empire, only with a few added features.

"I think I know who owned this now," said Jaden.

Ron looked at it as well. "Let me guess. Attempts to make the Emperor live longer?"

Jaden gave Ron a look. "Uh…"

"I'm a living computer, Jaden. I literally downloaded everything in regards to this petty conflict between the Jedi and Sith into my positronic brain."

"Not meaning to interrupt anything, but could somebody PLEASE start answering questions for me?" she said. "As you said, I've been in this thing for over three thousand years, and I'm really itching to find out what the hell happened to Mandalore and who the Hell the Republic is fighting what they did to piss them off!"

Ron stood up. "Recent history lesson then. About 800 years ago, the Mandalorians pissed off the Republic to the point where they just bombed the planet to hell and back. Not the WISEST of ideas, but I wasn't around for that. About 10 years ago, the Trade Federation… heard of them?"

"They weren't even founded by then, I'll take it from here Ron," Jaden said. "The Trade Federation is basically a massive banking and trading corporation founded a few hundred years ago. The Republic has seeped so far into corruption that big companies like the Trade Federation, Banking Clan, and the Techno Union could have their own votes in the Republic senate. Now, a large number of star systems have succeeded from the Republic to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and have armies of Droids under their command. The Republic meanwhile - since about a thousand years ago they disbanded their military - have only just recently founded the Grand Army of the Republic, consisting mostly of Kaminoian Clones of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett. Now we're in the Clone Wars, and it's been going on for nearly four years now."

She looked at Joseph and Ron again. "And you're… with the Republic?"

"Not even close." Ron said, "We've got diplomatic ties, but the Federation's a sovereign state. We're not from around here, either."

Shae's eyes blinked at that. "What do you mean by that?" she asked, and the Federation personnel began to scratch their heads.

"Well, you can say we came from… a whole 'nother galaxy?" said Joseph, and Shae blinked a couple times before saying anything.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked.

"He is. We're actually from an alternate universe." Joseph glared at Ron once more, who simply shrugged. "The quantum signatures are completely different, Joe. You know that. Or at least you should."

"I'm sleep deprived, so screw you." growled Joseph before suddenly, Ron raised the phaser at him, and Joseph glared at Ron, "Don't you dare you fu-,"

He didn't get to finish before the beam struck him, sending him into a wall and knocking him out.

"Relax, it was on stun."

"Sure as hell doesn't look like it."

Ron said nothing as he tapped the unconscious captain's badge twice, before he disappeared in a shower of light.

"That seemed a bit excessive..." Jaden muttered before he turned back to Shae. "Well miss Vizla, once the doctors give you a once over, I think my father would be _very _interested to met you."

Shae was still gaping at the fact that a man disappeared. "Uh…"

"Oh, that's just our transporter. Relax. It's commonplace where we're from."

"O… Of course," she said and turned to Jaden, "Can you… tell me what's been since my… absence?"

Jaden looked at Ron. "Uh...living database over there can help you better than I can."

Ron chuckled. "Well, I can't take credit for that. Half my brain's gone thanks to a group of assholes that you don't want to run into in a dark alley. Or ANYWHERE without a lot of bullets."

Shae blinked at that clearly a little freaked out at that.

"Come on. Let's get you to sickbay and checked up before Cobby boy re-"

"Bridge to captain. We have a hail from the Independance."

"Called it. Put Joe through, Corpie."

It was a few minutes before the angry voice of said captain was heard.

"_RON YOU SON OF A BITCH!"_

Correction… _royally_ pissed off voice of said captain.

"_WHEN I GET MY HAND'S ON YOU, I'M KICK MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS, YOU'LL BE CRAPPING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH AND TALKING OUT OF YOUR ASS!" _

Ron let him finish before speaking. "Joe, you know me, yes?"

"_That-!_"

"Answer the question. Yes or no?"

"_...Yes._"

"Good. Then you know that I have a reason for doing what I do. Under regulations, I hereby order you to bed. If you don't, I'll sic Rutia on you. And no one wants that."

It was quiet for a few moments until they heard him again.

"_You know what? I motherfucking hate you…" _

The transmission ended and Ron looked up, and saw Jaden and Shae looking at him.

"What? We might be the same rank, but my ship's got better armament. Under Reg 191, he technically answers to me. Besides, he'll get over it: he knows that I want to make sure he's fine."

Jaden shook his head groaning "You… are a very strange person, Ron..." he muttered.

"Meh. Blame the Borg. Half my brain's missing thanks to them."

* * *

Rutia Yulanra was used to strange things on her ship. She was a member of Starfleet, after all: weird was part of the job. But getting the call of another human popsicle en route to sickbay? Just another day on the job. She picked up a tricorder and medical kit just as the Captain, Jaden and a woman in older Mandalorian armor entered what many called her 'chamber of horrors'. "Please state the nature of your medical emergency."

"Funny, Ru. Shae Vizla, Rutia Yulanra, my chief medical officer."

"Pleasure to meet the two of you," Rutia greeted as she looked at Shae, who felt a chill go up her spine at the examining look that the Doctor was giving her. "And you must be the latest person we got out of a cryo box."

"You can thank Joe for this one," Ron said, and Rutia blinked before sighing.

"Spent a month without sleep looking for this lady? Sounds like him." The Trill gestured Shae to sit down on a biobed. "Please sit down."

Shae did what the doctor said, and sat down as the Trill began to do her job.

"Someone fucked up your biochemistry to the nth degree. Traces of triolic waves, too. You're lucky you're not dead: prolonged exposure to that shit will kill a normal organic being in minutes." She tapped her tricorder a few times, looking over the details. "Hmm. Bone strength 70% above normal, oxygen intake makes a Vulcan look like a human, muscle tissue is practically woven. I bet you could take on a klingon with both hands tied behind your back butt naked."

Shae was a little flustered at that, but was pleased that she had the strength of a Rancor, and kick more ass than usual.

"So what's the bad news?" she asked.

"The fact that you aren't dead, for one." She gently pushed Shea down over the biobed as the enhanced medical scanners were deployed from out under it, enclosing the Mandalorian. "Over three thousand years of exposure to triolic energy should've killed you instead of leaving you alive. I'm going to take a few scans and see what they did in detail."

"That's not necess-" Rutia smiled at her. "Please remain calm."

The chill up Shae's spine turned colder as she saw that smile. To anyone else's perspective it may look sweet, but for those on the other end of Rutia's smile, it was looking into the face of a demon.

"Understood. Crystal," Shae said hurriedly, a little freaked out. True, she is a fearless bounty hunter and mercenary, but in NO WAY in hell she was suicidal.

A minute later and the Trill was shaking her head. "Good lord. The number of chemicals pumped into your system is insane. The composition of most of this shit is giving me a headache. And gave you a lot of resistance to that triolic crap inside your body."

She then tapped a few times, looking over the scanner until it came over her lower abdomen, and the Trill blinked as she saw the results.

"Hello," she said, "Well, I won't tell you specifically what's going down there, but I can only tell that whatever was pumped into you is gonna be inherited by any kids you might have, if you decide on any."

She tapped a button, retracting the arms and allowing her up. "I can say this, though. You might be one of the few beings in this universe or mine to give the boss a hard time in a fight."

Shae sighed a bit, "Well, I guess those Sith assholes actually did something beneficial for me," she said, "Still, doesn't help the fact that everyone I know is now dead."

Rutia huffed. "Life, death, not much of a difference in our line of work. The Borg can bring back the dead after 72 hours, the Kobali can do the same and turn you into one of them, and then there's time travel. Oh GOD, time travel. And Q, but he doesn't bother us much anymore. Tried with Joe, but him and the boss kicked him in the balls so many times that he ran away screaming."

Shae blinked at that, "Who the hell is Q?" she asked.

Rutia was about to open her mouth before they saw a brief flash, signalling the arrival of a man wearing a red version of the uniform Rutia had, only with four pips on his collar. "Ready or not, here I-" The doctor lashed out with her foot, kicking the being in the balls.

"Shae Vizla, Q." Ron said in mock greeting.

"Oh come on!" Q groaned in agony, "Not again!"

"Considering the shit you usually pull, I've instructed my entire crew to perform some act of physical harm to you to counteract anything you might do. What the hell are you doing here, anyways? I thought you learned your lesson the last time you were on my ship."

Q groaned as he used the wall to support himself. "Well, I thought I'd pay you and Cobby a visit. Talking to those fossils up in that neverland you people call the Force was getting boring."

* * *

Kirk and Qui-gon shared a look. "We hurt him when he gets back." The Jedi smiled at the thought of hurting that obnoxious being. "Agreed."

* * *

Q looked at Shae. "Well, aren't you a beauty!" A flash and Shae was out of her armor and in some sort of dress. "MUCH more fitting, don't you think?"

The response he got was Shae grabbing his shoulder and proceeded to knee him in the balls twice and then flipped him onto his back and twist his arm.

"YEOW! Okay, okay, okay!" the omnipotent being yelled, and in a flash Shae's armor was back on, and Shae released Q, only to arm her flamethrower.

Ron was amused. But it was only going to get more awkward. "Miss Vizla, I LOVE the way you operate."

"Thank you."

Q glared at the captain. "Why don't you ask her to marry-"

She shoved his head into the deck plating.

"Actually, I WAS going to ask, but considering the ass kicking she's giving you, I'm going to hold off on that." A flash left Shae on the ground and Q sitting on a biobed.

"OW! I was expecting kicks to my balls or a punch to the face, but I was NOT expecting a full body beatdown," Q whined, as Shae stood, and prepared her flamethrower.

"Well, let's see how you getting burned, then!" she said, only for Ron to stop her.

"I wouldn't, if I were you. The fire suppression system doesn't take kindly to flamethrowers." A thought passed through Ron's mind. "Are you responsible for us being here?"

"For that silly rift? Sorry, Big Man, but I have an alibi."

"Fighting with the ball and chain again?" Q looked at Ron and approached the large human. "How did you know?"

"Because in about ten seconds, there's going to BE a ball and chain in your face." Q turned to receive a tritanium ball attached to a chain hitting him in the face, courtesy of Rutia. "Pinkerton to Cobb. Joe, do you read?"

It was a few moments before a groan was heard.

"_Yes, I'm here_," Joseph's voice said grumpily, "_What's up?_"

"My apologies for forcing you out of bed, but there's an old friend here who's DYING to see you. You know, Mr. Letter?" That was Ron's way of saying Q was on his ship. And Joseph would stop at nothing to see the bastard suffer.

"_Q's in the house?" _asked Joseph, "_I've been saving a chainsaw just for him. The thing may be old, but it works."_

"Get over here, then: we have an asshole to take down."

Off to the side, Jaden and Shae were wondering what the hell was going on. When Rutia joined them just after Joseph beamed over with a chainsaw, she smirked at the look of fear on the being's face. "Oh, COME ON! What did I do to you?!"

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL!" The pseudo-god ran away screaming while Ron and Cobb ran after him, the latter with a chainsaw, the former with his kilij.

"What the hell did Q do to them?" Rutia chuckled. "In 2399, Q paid a visit to their ship. He pulled a Kampfer on them both. Neither were happy."

"You almost cut my ear off!" shouted Q as he dodged a swipe from the chainsaw.

"DIE!"

Shae rose an eyebrow. "What the hell's a Kampfer?"

"You don't want to know the answer to that question." Rutia let out a breath as she dodged the running men and went into her office. 'Welcome to the _Ra-Cailum_, home of Starfleet's Misfits.' A scream followed by Joseph rushing in screaming bloody murder followed.

"NO STOP! AGH! NOT MY ARM!"

"O-Kay, yet another crazy adventure," he said, as the screams continued.

"Ok, I'm not coming back until you two get over what I did! It was just a bit of fun!"

"FUCK YOU!" Q disappeared in a flash, and both Mandalorians approached the two VERY angry captains.

"Uh… What did he do to you?"

Both blushed and looked away from both the Mandalorians and one another.

"You do not want to know."

"Well, now that that's handled, I'm going back to bed," he said and tapped his badge. "Independence, beam back,"

The tired captain disappeared in a shower of light, and Ron sighed. "I'm not telling you that story."

* * *

**Mandalore**

* * *

"Shae Vizsla..." Aren said as he stood in his office, as yet once again Ron and Jaden stood in his office, along with Shae. "The most famous and infamous Mandalorian bounty hunter during the Great Galactic Wars… I have always wondered what had happened to you after the war... " he chuckled a bit, "Must admit, it's a true honor to meet you in person."

"And I you, Mandalore." Shae said nodding. "Have to say, I like what you've done with our world. Rebuilding must've taken a while to get our world back into this shape."

"Actually, we have Starfleet and their terraforming equipment to thank," Aren said. "They are VERY good at what they do. So much so that I am actually scared of their engineers and what they'd do if given glue and bailing wire."

Ron smirked at that picture forming his his mind. "Rocks into replicators, sir," he said.

"Well, anyways..." Aren said, turning back to Shae. "I believe the question now is… what do you wish to do now, Ms. Vizsla?"

"I'm just willing to serve Mandalore as best I can." She said. "You know the law for Mandalorians: when Manda'lor calls, we answer."

Aren smiled a bit at that. "Now _that _is what I like to hear," he said. "Once you're ready, we can have some of our people update your equipment. Obviously your armor and weapons could use a bit of modernization after nearly three and a half thousand years."

"I'll help with that."

"Ra-Cailum _to captain._"

A groan escaped Ron's mouth as he tapped his comm badge. "Pinkerton. WHAT?"

"_Wow, boss, you're in a bad mood. We just intercepted a transmission from Coruscant. They've found General Grievous' location._"

"Then we're running out of time, aren't we? Miss Vizla, if you would care to join my friend on the _Independance_, we've got work to do."

Shae nodded and the two left the Mand'alor's office.

"She'll make a good addition to Mandalore's military," said Aren, "Her experience and skills will definitely make a huge boon, plus what the Sith gave her to make more deadly will be a bonus."

"Now I have to deal with my...other problem."

* * *

**USS **_**Enterprise **_**\- Corellia system**

* * *

_Captain's Log, Stardate 87978.5: The _Enterprise _is in orbit of Corellia, and our work is cut out for us. At least we've got someone who… enjoys talking._

* * *

Ahsoka could understand Ron and just about EVERYONE'S desire to throttle Sugihara. He was either unwilling or unable to SHUT UP. At least the _Raging Tempest_ had be temporarily diverted to Corellia to help deal with the very independent Corellians. "Commander, do you have any advice on how to make that man shut his mouth for more than one millisecond?"

"Not really," Linda replied, trying to tune Sugihara out. "To compare him to old commercials back on Earth, it's like his mouth is powered by the Energizer Bunny."

Ahsoka relied on all of her Jedi training not to just whip out one of her sabers and decapitate him. He was clearly the master of making people go insane. "I don't think the Corellians will go for it. They might like the idea of getting their hands on Federation technology for CEC, but they won't go for membership."

"Ah, Lieutenant!" The unholy diplomat approached the pair, decked out in his standard dress uniform. "I take it that neither of you are enjoying yourselves, judging from your expressions."

Ahsoka sighed, but nodded. "Yes, for… multiple reasons…" she said. '_Please don't talk to us, please don't talk to us - just leave, just leave…_'

Life, fortunately, was nice enough to give Ahsoka a reason to leave. "Raging Tempest _to Commander Allster: we have an incoming message from Kuat. We've been requested to return._"

Ahsoka looked at Linda with pleading eyes. "PLEASE take me with you." '_Anywhere but here!_'

"Of course," Linda said hurriedly before tapping her combadge. "Two to beam back. Excuse us Ambassador." Before he could say anything, Ahsoka and Linda were soon transported off the _Enterprise._

Both beamed off the _Enterprise_, materializing on the bridge of the _Sao Paulo_-Class ship. Site to site transporters were a godsend.

"Good to have you back, Linda," Takeshi said as he swiveled the chair around. "Ah, and good to see you, Ahsoka. I take it you wanted to come with us?"

"More like we were both subjected to Mister Motormouth Ambassador," Linda groaned. "I swear, the man does not shut up for _anything_!"

Takeshi winced. "Yeah, I can see why you'd want to get away from that," he said.

"ANYTHING to get away from him. What's going on?"

"Simply put, the boys at Kuat are more than interested in signing a contract with Starfleet for use of the yards in orbit, but they want us there," Takeshi informed.

"Why? Any ship would do."

"I don't know, really," Takeshi said, before he sighed. "But still, I have a bad feeling about this… Things are going to go south in a hurry, I can just _**sense**_ it…"

And Ahsoka knew what he meant. After what had happened with Larcei, Takeshi had decided to be tested by Jaden and some of the other Mandalorian Knights, and it was revealed that his Spatial Awareness was actually a form of Force Sensitivity. He couldn't use telekinesis or any of the more visible powers of a Force User, but his sensing abilities were through the roof.

"The Enterprise will be heading back to Coruscant soon. Admiral Ushiromiya wants the flagship back there as soon as these talks are over, and I'm going to be heading back that way once we're at Kuat."

"At least you get away from Ambassador Motormouth."

* * *

**USS Ra-Cailum - en route to Coruscant**

* * *

Ron sat in one of the conference rooms, trying to enjoy the darkness of hyperspace. When the doors opened and Jaden entered, the former drone let out a sigh. "Politics are a bitch, aren't they?" he asked. "Nothing but stupidity, if you ask me."

"Preaching to the choir, Ron." Jaden said as he sighed as well. "That's why Mando's try to make politics as simple and plain as possible… not big huge polonged cock fights between a bunch of old men who barely know jack shit about the world around them."

"Agreed. That's why most of the Federation Council are either young and intelligent, or like the Vulcans, logical to a fault." He turned his gaze back to the tunnel behind them before narrowing his eyes. "That's odd. Something's behind us."

Jaden blinked as he followed his gaze. "How the hell can you tell that?" he asked, "Since when could you look into hyperspace?"

"My ocular implant can see most of the EM spectrum, as well as a few layers of subspace. I'm also using the _Ra-Cailum'_s sensors. There's a ship following us." He cocked his head to the left. "A _Venator_-Class Star Destroyer."

"It's probably just the defense fleet," Jaden said shrugging, "After what we did after that little stunt the Jedi tried to pull, they'd want to keep an eye on any ships with the title '_Ra-Cailum_' or '_Raging Tempest_'."

"It's in hyperspace, behind us. And it's not alone." Ron got up, heading for the closest exit that led to a turbolift. "There's four of them following us."

"Well, there's no way in hell a single _Venator_ could take on a _Sovereign _to begin with." Jaden said as he followed. "Either way, there isn't much they can do until we drop out of hyperspace. It's impossible for ships to engage in combat while in hyperspace, not to mention damn near dangerous."

"Then why aren't they hailing us?" Both men entered a lift, heading to the bridge as quickly as it could move. "Sonja, report."

"Four Venators are following us in a staggered formation. If it weren't impossible for them to fire weapons in hyperspace, I'd say they were in formation to fire at us."

"Four _Venators _don't stand a chance against a _Sovereign,_ not without the same upgrades we put into the _Vod-_class." Jaden said, before he hummed. "Have you tried hailing them yet?"

"Been trying for the past few minutes." A warning began blaring from the tactical station. "Sir, they're… deploying something. Some sort of cradle."

"On screen." The big screen showed one of the destroyers lowering a cradle of some sort out of the main hangar bay. "What the hell is THAT?" The cradle was simple, reminding Ron of the T34 Calliope in a way. This would not be a problem if the T34 Calliope wasn't a rocket launcher conversion of the M4 Sherman.

"Ron, we should drop out of Hyperspace," Jaden said his eyes narrowing. "Before that thing's done getting deployed - I have a bad feeling about this!"

"Agreed. Riza, drop us out of hyper-"

The tactical post began blaring out a VERY urgent warning. "Sir, they're firing!"

"WHAT?! HOW?!"

"Don't care! Shields! SHIELDS!"

Two missiles impacted the hull, but the rest of the volley fired from the lead ship impacted the aft shields, but the _Sovereign_-Class ship rocked all the same.

"Shields at 91%!"

"What the hell are those things packing?!"

Sonja quickly checked the scans of the missiles as they came in. "Those things are packing warheads made for planetary bombardment! The missiles are using hyperdrives based on our designs!"

"Okay, give them an A for creativity, but What the hell is the Republic thinking?!" Jaden shouted. "Are they _asking _for the Federation to go ape shit on them again?!"

"Maybe Palpy doesn't care anymore! Or he could be trying to pin this on the Mandalorians! Don't care at the moment!" The ship shook again, throwing them off their feet. As Ron got up, he snarled. "Ok, that's it. Corpsa. Return fire."

The _Ra-Cailum_ returned fire, spewing out a volley of photon torpedoes at the lead _Venator_, impacting the ship's hull, and caused heavy damage, but did not destroy it. "They've enhanced their reactors: they can use shields in hyperspace!"

"Ships could do that all the time since the Mandalorian Wars!" Jaden shouted. "There just was never any NEED too since your not suppose to be able to SHOOT IN HYPERSPACE!"

"Phasers and torpedoes! Try to punch through: they're still diverting more power to their hyperdrives just to catch up! their shields won't take the punishment!" A full barrage of phaser beams and torpedoes impacted the closest ship before shifting fire to the next closest ship.

"We need to get out of Hyperspace!" Jaden shouted as the ship shook again. "At least then they can't shoot those Hyperspace Missiles at us!"

"Agreed; Corpsa, fire two torpedoes set for a poly-luminous burst: blind them long enough to drop out! Risa, I'm going to need those golden fingers of yours!" Both women nodded an affirmative as they waited for the order. "NOW!" Two torpedoes left the aft tube before exploding in a blinding flash of light, temporarily knocking out their sensors long enough for the _Ra-Cailum_ to drop out of hyperspace. "This is insane. What the hell is going on? Palpatine can't be insane enough to try and take on the Federation: a united democracy is the worst thing anyone wants to face in a war."

"Either he's reaching his endgame, or he knows something that we don't," Jaden said. "This guy's obviously been planning… whatever the hell he's doing for a while, he wouldn't risk it all on the off chance of taking out a single Federation starship."

Ron's eyes widened. "Fuck ME. Risa, get us to Coruscant, and kick in the quantum slipstream drive! We need to warn the _Enterprise_!"

* * *

**Coruscant orbit - Shuttlecraft Tereshkova en route to USS **_**Enterprise**_

* * *

Ahsoka sighed as she piloted the shuttle back to the flagship of Starfleet. "Ahsoka, I hate to do this to you, but could you head down to the Jedi Temple?" Shon asked on the comm. "Master Windu and a few others went to the Chancellor's Office a few hours ago, and Master Nu wants a presence from the _Enterprise_."

Ahsoka rose an eyebrow at that "Why would they need that?" She asked.

"_I don't know, but I'm beaming down in a few minutes to speak with her, then I'm going to go see the Chancellor._"

Ahsoka shrugged. "Aye, Captain. I'm en route." The Class-7 shuttle dove into the atmosphere, quickly making its' way to the Jedi Temple and landing in the spire hangar. Once she exited, she was greeted by the sight of Captain Shon materializing in a shower of light.

"Captain." Ahsoka said nodding. "So, where is Master Nu now?"

One of the Jedi approached the two Starfleet officers. "Captain. Padawan Tano."

"Lieutenant. Where's Master Nu?" The Padawan winced at the tone Ahsoka used, but recovered. "She's in the Archives. She said she needed to clear her head concerning recent revelations. She would reveal nothing else to me."

"What revelation?" Shon asked, but the Starfleet officers shrugged.

"No idea," the Lieutenant said, "You can go ask her yourself-" However he was cut off as in the distance, there was an odd thundering sound coming from the temple entrance. "The hell is that?"

"_Lieutenant, ahh… we… have a situation._" The Lieutenant's commlink beeped, as he tapped the badge to respond. "What is it?"

"_Sir… we've got a whole column of Clone Troopers marching up towards the entrance of the temple,_" Came the response.

"Oh, hell. Come on, Lieutenant. Let's try and avoid a shooting war."

"Somehow, sir, I don't think this is going to end peacefully."

* * *

Anakin skywalker still had his hood drawn over his head, and his inactive lightsaber was still in his hand. Palpatine had offered him a chance to save his wife, and he was taking it. Two Starfleet MACOs and a Jedi were at the entrance to the Temple, and were clearly wondering what the hell was going on. "Master Skywalker!" The Jedi said, "We thought you were still here. What's with the clones?"

Anakin said nothing, which sent an uncomfortable chill down the Jedi's neck "M-Master Sky-" he began to say, before he could no longer breath, as an invisible force seemed to grab him by the neck.

"The Jedi have incited a coup against the Galactic Republic, and attempted to assassinate Chancellor Palpatine," Anakin said, as he looked at the Jedi, revealing his now yellow eyes. "We are here to deal with the Jedi… once and for all."

With a single motion of his and, he snapped the Jedi's neck. The two MACO's raised their Phaser rifles, but they were flung back by Anakin's force push, impacting the walls of the temple, likely breaking their backs in the process. "Move in," he said too the Clone Commander. "Purge anyone inside the temple, if Starfleet gets in the way… make an example of them."

"Yes sir." The Clone said, before he signalled the rest of the Clones as they advanced further into the Temple.

Shouts of surprise were heard as the clones opened fire, cutting down several Jedi without warning, and killing a few Starfleet officers in the process. "MASTER, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Anakin's gaze turned towards a new arrival: Ashoka, who had both her lightsabers active and deflecting an odd bolt or two. "What the hell is going on?! Why are you doing this?!"

"Master Windu attempted to assassinate the Chancellor, Ahsoka." Anakin said, "The Jedi are trying to rebel against the Republic… this is something that must be done. Stand aside, Snips… don't make me destroy you."

Ahsoka twirled her sabers around a few times. "Well. We'll see about that." The fight between Master and former apprentice was about to begin.

* * *

**Kuat**

* * *

Three Venators approached the _Sao Paulo_-Class ship, seemingly on an attack victor.

"OK, this doesn't look good," Takeshi remarked. "Yellow Alert, shields up. Rina, try hailing them."

"I'm trying, but they aren't responding," Rina replied.

"They're powering weapons!" Kim informed. "Sir-"

"Oh, hell." Takeshi threw the wheel hard over, as it were, hauling his Steering Column to the left and kicking the throttle to full to avoid the hail of turbolaser fire. "Red alert! Tholra, Phaser Cannons on Rapid Fire!" After the first volley had faded, Takeshi turned towards the lead Venator and unleashed his own volley.

The _Raging Tempest_ fired its' forward cannons, tearing through the shields and burning through parts of the warship's hull, sending it into a death spiral.

"Sir, we're going to need one hell of a distraction to get out of here!" Kim informed.

Takeshi's gaze went out the viewscreen, seeing the shipyards of Kuat behind the Venator he'd shot up, before he grinned. "I think we have a suitable distraction in mind…" he said, before gunning the throttle again, shooting towards the ring, the remaining two Venators hot on his tail, with more ships joining the chase.

"Five more destroyers inbound, as well as eight cruiser-class ships inbound. I hope you have a VERY good idea, sir!" Kim informed.

"Oh, don't worry, it's good alright…" Takeshi said, as the ring was looming closer and closer… before he began skimming just above the ring.

"I think I know what you're doing, and this is the craziest idea you've ever had!" Linda yelled.

"Crazy or not, it'll work," Takeshi replied, before pulling the trigger on his Steering Column, unleashing Phaser Cannon fire onto the ring beneath the ship.

The cannon fire burned through connecting brace after connecting brace, and the gas caused secondary explosions, causing additional breakage.

"Most of the ships are breaking off," Kim reported. "They're going to try and intercept the pieces. We've still got an Acclamator on our tail, as well as one of those droid attack ships!"

"We'll deal with them in a moment," Takeshi replied. "I think it's safe to say Palpatine's made his move, and Kuat'll be sticking with him… so we need to deprive him of his manufacturing capabilities." He continued firing at the ring, even adding a Quantum Torpedo or two into the mix until the entire ring was burning, before pulling away to engage the remaining pursuers.

The yard was heavily damaged, and most of the attacking ships were forced to divert. Only the droid bothered to attack, and Takeshi knew how to kill it. A phaser barrage kept its shields busy, also shredding through them even as a Photon Torpedo impacted against its hull, destroying it.

Takeshi sighed as they hightailed it out of the system, entering Hyperspace and heading towards the rift. "Rina, see if you can get in touch with Ron or the _Enterprise_," he ordered. "They need to know what just happened."

"We're being jammed on all local communications channels. and we're out of subspace communication range, sir. We're going to need to get to Coruscant."

Takeshi snarled, before adjusting his course. Hopefully things wouldn't have gone to hell that badly that fast…

* * *

**Ron the true Fan: Well. Shit. We're boned, aren't we?**

**117Jorn: It's Order 66 and the beginning of the Dark Times - yeah, this is gonna be the start of a LOT of problems.**

**Takeshi Yamato: Oh, yeah. The Solid Organic Waste has well and truly collided with the Rotational Air Circulation Device at this point in time. Main question: Will Takeshi and Ron make it back to Federation space unscathed? For that matter, will their ships?**

**Ron the True Fan: Only one way to find out. ONWARD! **

**Ja Ne!**


	5. Chapter 5

Stars Asunder

* * *

_Captain's Log, USS _Ra-Cailum_, supplemental: The endgame is upon us. Palpatine has launched an attack on my ship, meaning he's no longer bothering to keep up appearances. We are en route to Coruscant, and I have a VERY pissed off Mandalorian on board._

_I pity Palpy, because Jaden and I are going to kill that fucking bastard._

_And if he did anything to the _Enterprise… _death will be the LEAST of his concerns._

* * *

The Ra-Cailum shot through hyperspace, thousands of times the maximum warp speed of even the Odyssey-Class. "Faster, goddamn it, we need to get there!"

"She'll fly apart!"

"FLY 'ER APART, THEN!" The _Sovereign_-Class starship dropped out of hyperspace close to Centrix-1, and entered a high orbit over Coruscant. "Report."

"We're in orbit, and the defense force isn't reacting to our presence just yet."

"What about the Jedi Temple? Our people?" The grave looks he received were his answer. "Those motherfuckers. Jaden, grab your best weapon. We're going down there! Sonja, Riza, deal some damage: get enough destroyers out of position to drop our special… surprise."

Jaden nodded as he pressed a few commands on his wrist communicator. "I'll gear up and meet you in the transporter," he said, as he headed for the turbolift. "We'll be meeting with some of the Union's best agents who've been keeping an eye on the Republic and the Order. I think we'll need their help. They'll relay info to us once we arrive on the ground."

"This day gets worse all the time."

* * *

**Coruscant surface, Jedi Temple**

* * *

Shon opened fire with the phaser minigun, attempting to hit Anakin with phaser pulses, but the pulses weren't powerful enough to go through the lightsaber's protective plasma beam, and too agile jumping around like that. Ahsoka was the only one who could engage, and she was having problems defending herself from the fuckton of clones.

"Why are you doing this?!" Ahsoka shouted as their lightsabers crossed yet again. "You HAVE to know this is wrong! The Jedi serve the republic, they don't want to control it!"

"That is a lie, and you know it!" Anakin shouted, "The Jedi are drunk with power, and the only thing that can stop them are the clones and the Chancellor!"

"You know THAT'S a lie!"

The two continued to strike blows at one another, but Anakin wasn't a better duelist for nothing. "Starfleet's been blinded by the Jedi! Blinded by YOU!"

"I'm not blinding anyone!" Ahsoka shouted, as she was forced back by Anakin's strikes. "The Jedi turned their backs on me, but they would never do something that warrants THIS!"

Anakin tripped Ahsoka, using the force to remove her from her lightsabers. "I don't know how the Jedi predicted Starfleet's arrival, but they used you to get them on their side!" He prepared to impale her, but a phaser bolt passing by his head stopped him.

"General Skywalker…" Anakin looked at the direction of the stairs, finding Ron and Jaden standing there, the former holding his ubiquitous compression rifle and aiming it at him. "Stand the hell down and listen to REASON for once."

"I respected you, Skywalker…" Jaden growled out, "Greatest hero the Republic ever known… but I guess its true what they say… you either die a hero," he then ignited his lightsabers. "…or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

"I'm doing this to save the Republic! To help YOU idiots!"

"I can't be affected by mind tricks, dumbass." Ron growled, "But you are going to suffer something." Ron grabbed Dooku's lightsaber, activating it in a single grip. "I am going to hurt you. NO ONE fucks with Starfleet and gets away with it." Ron opened fire with his compression rifle, forcing Anakin away from Ahsoka, and the clones fired at them. Jaden deflected a few bolts, but was surprised by Ron deflecting bolt after bolt, returning fire with the compression rifle.

'_Borg implants must let him react faster than a Jedi could…_' Jaden thought, before looking at Ahsoka, "Ron'll keep Anakin busy for now - we need to evacuate as many people from the temple we can! I've got my own people securing a landing zone for transport beams and shuttles, but we need to find as many survivors of this mess as we can!"

Ahsoka retrieved her lightsabers as something crashed outside the temple.

(**BGM: Sharkface from Red vs. Blue**)

Thudding was heard as something marched in, looking like a walker with much heavier armament.

"Surprise, assholes! Guess who's back!" The walker fired its' phaser cannons at the clones, who began screaming in terror at the clearly Starfleet walker from hell. "That's right, assholes! Starfleet's going to fuck you up!"

Jaden gave Ron a look. "What the hell is that thing?" He asked.

"The Rokkenjima-Class assault mech." Ron said shrugging, "My sister breaks shuttles, and my chief engineer got bored. Now, let's deal with Anakin Asshole, shall we?"

"Huh… a Federation walker…" Jaden said, as he grinned a bit. "Nice. You take care of Skywalker, we'll worry about the rest of the 501st."

Ron fired at Anakin, who began jumping around, dodging fire as best he could before closing the distance and attempting to destroy Ron's rifle, but the Starfleet officer used his personal shield the momentarily brush the lightsaber aside before countering with his own weapon. "Skywalker, you REALLY need to learn your place." The ex-drone let go of the compression rifle, letting it swing freely as he began duelling Anakin, his enhanced eyesight and reflexes more than a match for Anakin's force-empowered abilities. "The Jedi might be idiots at times, but megalomaniacs? FUCK, you're blind if you honestly think that!"

"It's taken them this long to gain power!" Anakin shouted, "Why surrender it?!"

"Because they didn't WANT to fight a war!" Ron retorted, "Peace is their goal, not conquest! and you're blind if you can't see that!"

"I saw Mace Windu try to murder the chancellor!" Anakin shouted as their lightsabers clashed once more, "The Jedi are not suppose to kill their prisoners, it is in their code! So why was he about to kill a defenseless man?!"

"How about the fact the fucker's a Sith Lord?!" a quick parry nearly disarmed Anakin of his lightsaber before Ron's boot met something more… painful as he kicked Skywalker in the balls before he punched him in the face. "Triolic energy's a sign of dark side users, and guess what we found, asshole?! That, in his body!"

"The Chancellor has been leading the republic for over a decade now!" Anakin grunted as he recovered from Ron's rather… underhanded technique. "Even if he does use the dark side, he has been doing nothing but giving the people what they want! The Jedi are the evil ones, not the chancellor!"

"Power for power's sake, moron!" the saber duel continued before Ron deflected another strike. "the Sith have been trying to take control of this galaxy for thousands of years, and thanks to you, they're pretty fucking close! What are you now, his apprentice?!"

"I've learned all I can from the Jedi, Pinkerton," Anakin growled as he pressed his attack. "If I'm to save this galaxy, I must know both sides of the force. And I'll do it with or without you or the Federation!"

Ron shook his head. "A fool is what you are." Ron drew his kilij, adopting a jar'kai stance. "And if I have to, I'll kill you."

A thrum was heard as a LAAT/i descended into the entrance. "Then you will die first!"

The gunship fired at the Starfleet officer, and Ron deflected bolt after bolt, the missiles were another story. "Oh, shit." The rockets impacted the ground, and Ron was sent flying into a column, unconscious from the blast.

Anakin approached the unconscious ex-drone, preparing to impale him and be done with it.

"Oi! Pretty Boy!" Anakin turned around, and saw Jaden wielding a Z-6 rotary blaster cannon. "Deflect this." He then unleashed a hail of blaster bolt fire towards Anakin, who hastily began dodging and deflecting what shots he could, but even he had to be forced back as Jaden moved to cover Ron. "Jaden to _Ra-Cailum,_ Ron's unconscious! Beam him out!"

"Workin' on it, but we're busy with the defence forces!" Anakin roared as a pair of LAAT/is blasted their way in, planning on overwhelming them. "Hang on: locking on! Energizing!" The pair disappeared as blaster bolts impacted the column, destroying it.

* * *

Jaden was very happy to see the transporter room on the Ra-Cailum, and a medical team got Ron on a stretcher, moving him to sickbay. "We beamed as many people as we could, but… We beamed up a lot of bodies, too." Jaden winced. He might not've liked the Jedi, but he did not wish them any ill-will beyond some humiliation and humbling.

"I've… got similar reports from the men I sent in…" Jordan said, shaking his head. "The 501st is shooting anyone not wearing a trooper uniform, regardless of their age or if they were even a Jedi…"

Rutia shook her head as the Ra-Cailum shook. "I'm going to get to work." She said, "The boss gave us a message, though. You're in command."

"WHAT?"

"We don't have a nominal XO." The Trill said, "You're acting XO for the next while."

"I'm not starfleet! He can't have the authority—" He began, but Rutia laughed at Jaden's objections.

"Please." She said, "The _Ra-Cailum's _the flagship of the SCE, has been since the _Da Vinci_ was decommissioned, but we're still an irregular unit. That means the captain can do whatever the hell he wants when it comes to his ship, as long as he maintains control. So, you're in command, _sir_."

"Oh… well…" Jaden said, still sounding a bit surprised. "Well… I suppose our next course of action should be to contact Starfleet, let them know what's happening over here. We also should inform the Jedi across the galaxy, warn them that Sidious has made his move. Once we've evacuated all the people we can here, we should head for Mandalore - they should be safe for the time being until we can send them to your universe."

"We've got as many ships across the galaxy to do just that. Get to the bridge: we're going to need you up there."

* * *

Riza barrel rolled the _Ra-Cailum_ as she avoided the Corusca's turbolaser fire while Corpsa unloaded phaser fire into the _Venator_-Class destroyer. "We are getting WAY too fucking popular up here." A trio of _Victory-I_ Class destroyers fired at the _Sovereign_-class battleship, but the Ra-Cailum was still too agile for them. The lift doors opened and allowed Jaden to walk onto the bridge as the ship shook from multiple impacts.

"Report!" He shouted as he worked his way towards the chair. "What are we dealing with?"

"The Corusca is on our ass, and we've got half the CDF gunning for us!"

"What about the OTHER half?!"

"Oh, they're dealing with something MUCH bigger." In the distance, Jaden saw a ship explode, and out of the fireball came the Odyssey-Class Enterprise. "Fear the Big E, no matter what letter of the alphabet." to Jaden's knowledge, the Corusca was Wilhuff Tarkin's flagship. "Do we have anything that could cause a massive explosion?"

"Oh, there's something, but I'd need the CO's authorization to use it!"

"Well, he's listed me as acting CO, so do it!" Jaden announced, before the ship shook again. "I don't think we can stay here for much longer!"

Sonja paled in horror. "No. You are NOT!"

"Doing it! Computer, activate manual steering column and engage Bussard ramscoop!" A flight stick extended from the helm, and the Ra-Cailum did the impossible for a ship its' size as she Ivaned, going end over end in seconds, then shot at the Corusca. "Blowing ramscoop in 5!" The Ra-Cailum passed over the ship, venting greenish gas over the Venator-Class destroyer. "Tarkin, your day is about to get SO much worse."

* * *

**RSD **_**Corusca**_

* * *

Tarkin was in a good mood. Starfleet was getting the boot, as were the Jedi. But the Enterprise was continuing to be an annoyance, and the Ra-Cailum was making matters worse.

However, oddly enough the _Ra-Cailum _was beginning to move towards the _Corusca_, as it began to leak out a strange greenish gas over them. '_Have we damaged them?_' Tarkin thought. However, as his vessel fired another salvo of tubolaser fire into the gases to hit the _Ra-Cailum_… the beams ignited the gas, as it erupted into a massive ball of fire before them.

Tarkin backed away from the bridge as the fireball consumed the Corusca, running from the command center as it breached the windows, incinerating everything. He made it to an escape pod, but the hatch did not close fast enough: the fire went in with him. The screams he made echoed in the pod as it launched clear of the destroyer.

* * *

"Aft torpedoes armed! Firing!" The Ra-Cailum fired a burst of red projectiles, punching through the weakened hull and detonating in key places, enough to destroy the star destroyer.

"I think that should put him out of the fight for a while," Jaden said as the _Ra-Cailum _moved away from the burning hulk of the _Corusca_. "Though I think we've outlived our stay here at Coruscant."

A trio of larger star destroyers appeared out of hyperspace. They looked much like the Victory, but were slab-sided, and the command tower was missing the extension. "Uh-oh."

"Sensors identify them as Imperator-Class star destroyers. They're closing in at half-impulse."

One of the destroyers' rear quarter exploded, sending it downwards slightly as a ship shot past. It was a Sao Paulo-Class escort.

"Raging Tempest _to _Ra-Cailum," Takeshi said over the comms. "_Hope I'm not late to the party._"

"This is Commander Henderson: you're just in time! Get those Imperators out of position and we'll warp out of here. We'll rendezvous with the _Independence _in Sector 358 by 48."

"_Understood,_" Takeshi replied. "_We'll do what we can._" The _Raging Tempest_ then proceeded to unload its weaponry on the Imperators again.

* * *

**Chancellor's office, Coruscant**

* * *

Order 66 had gone well. Just not well enough thanks to Starfleet's interference. Dozens of Jedi had escaped justice, spirited away by Starfleet's damnedable transporter technology. Still, he could confirm the deaths of Ki-Adi Mundi and most of the Jedi High Council. Yoda, Kenobi, Aayla Secura, Plo Koon and others, on the other hand, were not confirmed dead.

The Holocomm beeped, as Sidious activated it as the image of his new apprentice appeared, bowing before him. "Lord Vader," he said. "How goes the attack on the temple?"

"_It is going as planned - we have already secured most of the temple, and we have reprogrammed the comms room to have all Jedi return home, claiming the war is over,_" Anakin said. "_However, Starfleet Personnel have made securing the temple more costly with their defenses they had installed. Pinkerton was also present, but he managed to escape. We also believe Starfleet has beamed away numerous Jedi and their allies out of the temple. But overall, Operation: Knightfall is a success._"

"Good. Good. Make preparations to head to Mustafar and deal with the Seperatist Council. I will deal with the Federation and their allies." Anakin nodded, and the call ended. Sidious then put a hail through to the Victory-Class destroyer Strikefast. "Chancellor, what can I— Good lord, what happened to you, sir?!"

"Nothing that you need concern yourself with, Captain." He sent a set of coordinates to the destroyer's navigator. "I want you to head to this location. There is… someone I want you to recover."

"_It… will be done, my lord._" Parck said, nodding before his hologram disappeared.

Palpatine cackled. Soon, he would have absolute dominion over his galaxy. And if he played his cards right, the Milky Way would be his, as well.

* * *

**Near Utapau**

* * *

Obi-wan Kenobi, piloting Grievous' personal fighter, which he stole as soon as Cody and the 7th Sky Corps began shooting at him, was en route to the Sundered Heart, Bail Organa's transport. Master Yoda was on board, as were a number of Starfleet officers that barely escaped the destruction of the USS _Halberton_, a _Saber_-Class light attack ship. They tried to rescue Master Plo, but their ship came under fire from a much more powerful _Imperator_-Class star destroyer.

Of course the _Sundered Heart _wasn't the only one there, as the USS _Independence _was also there, after saving a group of Jedi led by Aayla Secura, thanks to a 'top secret' Starfleet Commando Unit.

The fighter docked with the CV70R, and Obi-wan got out as soon as the bay was pressurized. He was met there by Captain Cobb, Master Yoda and Master Secura. "Master Yoda, Senator Organa. What happened? Why did our troops turn on us?"

Joseph was the one to answer as he stepped forward.

"I think, it's best if I explained it to you, Master Kenobi," he said, "But first come with me to the briefing room, I'll also show why the clones suddenly did an affiliation 180,"

Obi-Wan blinked at that, and looked at his fellow Masters, who all nodded, and followed the Starfleet officer to said destination.

They reached the airlock, and Joseph led them into one of the ship's conference rooms, which, while as expansive as the ones on the Enterprise, were more Spartan. "When we rescued Master Secura, our MACO team stunned the clones that would have killed her, and we found these once we secured him." An image appeared on the monitor of a human brain. in the cerebral cortex was an organic chip, which was sending out signals to the brain. "It overwrote their loyalties, and forced them to attempt to kill the Jedi."

"So you're saying? Someone is controlling the clones?" Obi-Wan said in shock, while Joseph nodded.

"That's the gist of it," he said, "We managed to successfully remove the chips, and after studying them, and cracking the security codes, we came upon this…"

He pressed a few buttons, and soon a list appeared in Aurebesh.

"This list contains what we found out are Clone Protocol Contingency Orders," he said. "They're orders that the GAR Troopers MUST obey, even if it's against their moral judgement,"

"That son of a bitch. Palpatine planned it all. From the Naboo Crisis to the war."

Yoda hummed in acknowledgement. "The Sith Lord we were searching for, Palpatine is."

Cobb also pulled up a communications transcript, again in Aurebesh. "We're also picking up a return signal from the Jedi Temple. There is a hidden message in the wavelength, and no one would be able to pick it up unless you were Starfleet." It was a series of peaks and valleys. "It's a form of communication called Morse code. It reads 'Jedi Temple attacked; do not return; it's a trap'."

"Your people at the Temple must've set that code to warn all Starfleet personnel stationed with a Jedi," Senator Organa said, and Joseph nodded.

"We always come up with a back up plan," he said. "Picard had beaten that into the Academy Curriculum and Starfleet Doctrine incase something like this happens,"

"We have to go back. If anyone gets the recall signal, they'll get caught in the trap. Most of our people are nowhere near a Starfleet ship."

"That's… going to be a problem." An image appeared on the monitor. It was a battle between Republic forces and a trio of Starfleet ships: one _Sao Paulo_, one _Sovereign_ and one _Odyssey_. And all of them were ships they knew: the _Raging Tempest_, the _Ra-Cailum_ and the _Enterprise_.

"Right now, three Starfleet ships are engaging the CDF over the planet right now," he said. "We intercepted transmissions from the Home Fleet calling for reinforcements, and once they get there, even if those three escape, the planet will be on heavy lockdown."

"My ship has diplomatic immunity. I can shepherd any Jedi wanting to return and shut down the signal, but getting off-planet…" Obi-wan waved it off. "Let us worry about getting offworld, Senator. We know the Ra-Cailum is equipped with some sort of cloaking device: they might be able to do the same."

"If you plan to go to the Temple. Take a few of my MACO SpecOps with you," Joseph suggested and immediately showed an image of a heavily armored and well armed individual. "They're equipped with a new prototype Combat Armor, and if Palpatine has anything that resembles Sith, I doubt they can block a bullet with those lightsabers,"

* * *

_**USS**_ **Raging Tempest**

* * *

The _Sao Paulo_ strafed over the _Chimaera_, punching holes in the hull before launching a torpedo into the command tower.

"Jeez, this is getting pretty hairy," Takeshi remarked as he vectored away from the crippled Star Destroyer. "Kim, Rina, what's our status?"

"We're almost clear!," Kim replied. "The _Strikefast_ just left her position, and the _Imperator_ is the only one left that can pose a threat!" And the Ra-Cailum and Enterprise were pounding the holy hell out of her, so they WERE clear to retreat.

"_Take, how's the Chimaera?_" Jaden asked. "_Are we clear to jump to warp?_"

"Chimaera is crippled, Jaden!" Takeshi replied. "We're clear!" He began vectoring the ship towards open space. "Where to?"

"_Set course for Mandalore! We're leaving! I'm sending a message on all bands for all of our ships to rendezvous there!_" The three ships entered a rough formation before jumping into warp, leaving Coruscant behind.

"Well, I think we can safely say only Naboo and Mandalore are safe for us now."

"Definitely," Takeshi replied. "And we're going to need to put a permanent presence at the portal between universes, in case Palpatine's forces try to attack us."

"On that…" Kim pulled up a diagram. "The eggheads on the Enterprise and Ra-Cailum have been working on this for months now. They think they can use a concentrated deflector pulse to close the rift."

"There has to be a catch to that."

"There is," Kim informed. "The pulse has to come from both sides of the rift. One ship here, one ship there."

Takeshi sighed. "So we'd need to leave someone behind… could the rift be opened again?"

"Catch-22, sir," Kim replied. "If the rift is opened again, only a coordinated pulse can close it again."

The comm began to beep. "Sir, we're being hailed by the _Enterprise_ and _Ra-Cailum_," Rina reported.

"On screen," Takeshi replied.

The captains of their respective ships appeared on the screen. "_Take, I assume you've seen the plan?_"

"Yeah, I have," Takeshi replied. "I wish it didn't mean we have to leave someone behind, though."

"_We don't have a choice. And no, you aren't the ship staying behind._"

"What?!"

"_Your ship doesn't have the specialized deflector dish we need. It's only enough to imprint a warp signature on a target, and that requires modifications on a massive scale. Only two ships have the warp cores required to do this._"

Takeshi winced. Only two ships with powerful enough reactors were on this side: the Ra-cailum and the Enterprise. Either his friend or the flagship of Starfleet. Neither were acceptable. "I wish there was another way… I can't believe I'm saying this, but even asking Q for help would be better than leaving you or Shon here."

"_I've got a plan to get back._" Ron said. "_It just needs a LOT of quantum torpedoes and quite a few tricobalt warheads shoved into a black hole._"

"_Is there anyway we could perhaps… _move _the rift?_" Jaden asked, getting a few looks. "_We can't just sever all contact with your universe - like it or not, whatever happens to our universe affects yours one way or another now. We _could _reopen the rift between our universes somewhere more… undisclosed. I doubt the GAR has any means of accurately detecting such a phenomenon like you can._"

"_It doesn't work that way, Commander. We can't move the rift: we can only make another one._" The smile on Ron's face was not pleasant.

"_Well, I guess I know where we're going. Find out where the hell Mandalore's counterpart is in our universe._"

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied. "Good luck, Ron."

* * *

**Coruscant - Senate Building**

* * *

"And the Jedi rebellion has been foiled!" The Senators clapped at the speech given by Palpatine as Organa arrived at the pod used by Naboo's senator. Amidala was sitting in the docked pod, shaking her head.

"What's happening?" The senator of Alderaan said in concern.

"The Chancellor's been elaborating on a plot by the Jedi to overthrow the Republic," said Amidala while still listening to the Chancellor's address.

Bail had only one word for that accusation: Nonsense, but only to those with eyes to see it.

"The remaining Jedi will be hunted down, and defeated!" Palpatine continued, "The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed, but I _assure you_, my resolve has never been stronger!"

More sickening applause followed.

"The Federation, and the Klingons, aided the Jedi in their horrid act upon my person! They will not get away with this crime. And in order to ensure the security and continuing stability of our galaxy, the Republic shall be reorganized into the FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE! For a safe and secure society!"

Nearly the entire council chamber erupted in a round of applause from nearly every senator, all save for Padme and Bail. "So this is how democracy falls…" she said. "With a thunderous applause…"

* * *

**USS Ra-Cailum**

* * *

"Once we close the rift, we'll head to Mandalore. I've located the equivalent system, so we're not stuck here."

Ron stared out the forward screen.

"Boss?"

"No. As soon as the rift is closed, we're going to Coruscant. I think it's time the Chancellor and I had a _chat_. A chat involving a phaser rifle being introduced to his face."

Sonja whistled. "Trying to impress me?"

"I'm pissed. Palpy made me pissed. Time to pay the piper. You in for that action, kid?"

"…you know damn well I'm always ready for some action." Jaden said grinning.

the tactical post beeped out a warning. "Incoming message from the enterprise."

"Put it through, Corpie."

"Stop calling me that!"

The captain laughed before Shon and Ahsoka appeared on the big screen. "Va'kel, Lt. Tano. Something I can do for you?"

The Andorian sighed. "Ahsoka wants to go with you to Coruscant after the rift is shut. She's got unfinished business with Skywalker." "Her and my entire crew. Permission to come aboard granted, Ahsoka."

The Tortuga nodded, but the pair sensed that she wasn't looking forward to what would happen next as the link shut out.

"So… we doing the stealthy approach, or are we going to throw away all logic and reason and go in guns blazing?" Jaden asked, "'Cause I'm game with both."

"Stealth first. Riza, once Ahsoka's on board, set a course for the rift. It's time we made sure the bastard can't get at us."

* * *

**USS Montgomery - local side of the rift**

* * *

The prototype for the _Montgomery_-Class Dyson science ship sat on the Romulan side of the rift, alongside the USS _Resolute_ and the USS _Dauntless_, along with the IKS _Varanus_ and IKS _MoQ_.

The _Enterprise_ flew through the rift, before spinning around. "This is Captain Shon: we're powering up the deflector pulse now."

The young woman in the captain's chair pressed a key on her chair arm. "This is Captain Gasai, Captain Shon: standing by to seal the rift in case you need more power."

"_Understood, Captain. But I'd head to the Argelius system if I were you. We're going to need to open another rift._"

"Copy that - we'll head over there," the captain said, nodding. "Here's hoping this works…"

A focused graviton/tachyon beam fired from the Enterprise's overpowered deflector dish, causing the rift to become visible, almost like a cloud of smoke.

* * *

On the other side, the _Ra-Cailum's_ reasonably overpowered deflector fired out a similar beam, modulated to 794.589 teradynes: enough to seal a small black hole.

"Rift is weakening, Captain: 12% decrease in diameter."

"Not good enough! Sonja—"

"I know, I know!" She got to work feeding the deflector pulse more energy. "More power, damn you!"

The pulse continued to shut the rift, making it seemingly falter.

"Captain—" "Corpie, if this is about the deflector overloading, there is something attached to my backside you can kiss!"

"No, sir, but there ARE three _Imperator_-Class star destroyers closing in on our location!"

"Well, I guess we should've expected Palpatine to just loose all access to the one gateway between our universes." Jaden said, "This won't be easy."

"Damn it. Launch out the Peregrines and load up every shuttle with torpedoes. Tell them to make DAMN sure they can't get in weapons range!"

Corpsa sent the ship into red alert, but due to the massive drain on the ship's power, they could not raise shields, nor arm weapons.

"All small craft are launching. Sir, I'm picking up a ship coming through the rift."

"Damn it! Tell them to wave off!" The rift seemingly crackled as a Nebula-class starship came through, mounting the torpedo pod. "It's the Gagarin, sir." "Tell them to make themselves useful: we've got three ISDs bearing on our asses!"

* * *

The _Imperator_-Class destroyer _Avenger_ was just about within sensor range of the _Ra-Cailum_ when they picked up the _Gagarin_. "Nebula-Class, sir, torpedo cruiser variant. And those things can punch through the shields like they weren't there."

"Thank you, commander, I know the weaknesses of our shield design." The _Avenger_'s captain said. "Deploy fighter and bomber squadrons, maneuver the fleet to circle and destroy them before they can open fire on us. Let's show the Federation that we have the claws to take them on now!"

ARC-170s and V-wings took off from the three destroyers, all modified with enhanced weaponry.

They weren't to the same caliber as the disruptors mounted to a Klingon fighter, even from the 23rd century, but that didn't matter.

There were less than 80 fighters coming from the Federation battleship, and the Imperials had hundreds.

* * *

Oriko Mikuni was a young non-com from Japan. She was the daughter of a relatively high-ranked bureaucrat, and the adopted niece of Karla Pinkerton, Captain Ronald Pinkerton's mother.

She didn't have to join Starfleet. But she did, joining the 9th Tactical Fighter Squadron as a Peregrine pilot on the Ra-Cailum.

And now, after a year of fighting the Klingons and dealing with anyone who fought the ship, she was beginning to think this would be her last battle.

"Kirika, tactical formation Zeta. Let's teach these clones what Starfleet's finest can do!"

"Copy that!"

The Peregrines broke off, moving to engage the ARCs and V-wings.

"_Here they come…_" Ami Uzukuri said, as the enemy fighters made their approach. The Federation pilots drew first blood as one of their Peregrines downed a V-Wing, before the two groups of interceptors clashed together in a furious swarm.

Kirika Kure pulled her Stalker up as heavy blaster fire impacted her fighter's aft shields, draining them slightly. "Oriko! I need help!"

Oriko's Peregrine pulled onto the tail of a trio of V-wings and two ARC-170s, grimly smiling.

The Republic had learned that they had numbers. And numbers often beat any technological edge. Her pulse cannons tore a V-wing apart, but three more Peregrines were destroyed by three times that many ARCs.

And the _Gagarin_ was taking hits. Too many hits.

"_Oriko, the _Gagarin _can't keep up like this!_" Ami said, as she gunned down another ARC before regrouping with her squad leader. "_Those new Star Destroyers pack a hell of a punch!_"

"Ra-Cailum, requesting status!"

"_The rift is 89% closed! Gagarin, pull back!_"

"_Negative, Captain! Shields are beginning to fail! I'm beaming as many people to your ship as I can!_"

"_Don't you dare!_"

The Nebula-Class ship fired her impulse engines, heading for the closest destroyer. "_Godspeed, Pinkerton. Give them hell. Gagarin out._"

A _Nebula_-class Federation science vessel is essentially the saucer of a _Galaxy_-class battleship mounted on a pair of nacelles, with the engineering section stuffed into the saucer with high-tech sensor arrays at the expense of crew quarters and amenities. In a pinch, it suffices as a medium cruiser or armed transport, for which duties its relatively massive warp core, designed for extended research missions in dangerous areas of space, gives it an edge over older-generation cruisers in critical areas of power output, acceleration, and staying power.

It also makes a really, really big boom when rammed into an _Imperator_-class star destroyer at a considerable fraction of the speed of light.

The actinic flare of the warp core blazed as bright as a small star for a brief instant. The explosive meeting of matter and antimatter caused the star destroyer's armor to literally sublimate straight to gas, before cooling again into a cloud of dust, rapidly propelled outwards by the explosion. The central body of the Imperial cruiser was completely destroyed, with a few smaller shards and fragments of twisted, melted metal left pinwheeling in random directions through space.

"MOTHERFUCKERS!" The Ra-Cailum spun around, charging at the remaining two ISDs, its' mission of sealing the rift complete.

"All 9th Tactical Fighter Squadron craft, RTB now: we're leaving!" Oriko screamed in outrage as she and the survivors of the 9th TFS headed back to their carrier.

A quick headcount revealed that eight of their Peregrines and five Stalkers were lost. 'They'll pay for that.'

* * *

"We're low on power, boss: a trip to Coruscant's going to drain what reserves we've got left on full burn."

Ron was forced to agree. They'd be down to 4.9% by the time they got to the planet.

"Make a pass near the sun: those Bussard ramscoops need to be used for something other than venting shit into space." The ex-drone pulled out a pair of armbands from an engineering kit, before tossing one to Jaden. "Keep that on you at all times, kid."

"These are…?" Jaden asked, looking at the armbands.

"Transwarp transporter transponder beacons. Basically, you can beam anywhere so long as you know exactly where it is you want to go, even to two moving FTL objects. It's like hitting a bullet with another bullet while blindfolded and riding a horse. Thankfully, I can do that."

"What, the bullet thing?"

"No, calculating coordinates for transwarp beaming. Whoever can do that last one is epic." Ron handed Jaden a personal shield generator. "We'll beam into the Jedi Temple and make our way to wherever the fuck Palpy's hiding his ass. Then we beam back to the ship and GTFO. Any objections?"

"None," Jaden said, as he put the armbands on, before he twirled his WESTAR Blasters around his fingers. "Let's storm the castle."

* * *

**Jedi Temple - 6 hours later**

* * *

Obi-wan Kenobi had just shut down the distress signal, reconfiguring it to warn anyone that didn't escape with Starfleet to stay away.

The sound of transporters caught the human master's attention as he activated his lightsaber, only to face Ron and Jaden. "WHOA, WHOA WHOA! It's us!"

Obi-wan deactivated his weapon. "Sorry. jumpy."

"You and everyone else. Christ, Skywalker did a number on this place with those clones."

Obi-wan dropped his weapon in shock. "What."

"Oh… you haven't heard…" Jaden said, before he sighed. "Yeah, looks like Palpy manipulated Anakin to the dark side of the force, playing the victim in all this shit… not that it _excuses _all THIS bullshit of course…"

Obi-wan shook his head. "No. That's not possible."

"Hate to say, it, Master Kenobi, but it happened. Ahsoka's on the ship: she can beam down to confirm it." Another column of light deposited the ex-Jedi in question. "Or she forced her way down. Lovely."

"Captain, I'm sorry, but—"

"You want to settle things with Skywalker. Fine. So what the hell do we do now?"

A tap of wood on the floor caught their attention. "Destroy the Sith, we must."

Jaden rolled his eyes. "Oh, because that's worked out for you guys _so well_ the last few times you've 'destroyed' the Sith," he said. "How many times does this make it that the Sith came back _despite_ you Jedi claiming their gone? Let's see, the Great Hyperspace War, the Jedi Civil War, the Great Galactic Wars, the New Sith Wars, and now right here during the Clone Wars! I wonder how long it'll be for them to return after being 'destroyed' this time?"

"Doesn't matter, Jaden. We can't just leave that bastard in charge of the known galaxy. I don't care if the Sith come back, so long as it ain't in our own lifetimes."

Obi-wan either agreed or ignored the two. "Send me to kill the Chancellor. I won't kill Anakin."

"To fight this Lord Sidious, strong enough, you are not. The boy you trained, gone he is, consumed by the Sith Lord."

Ahsoka shook her head. "I'll help capture him. He's done some bad things against Starfleet personnel, and that's some bad stuff under Federation law."

"The more we talk, the more likely Palpatine will figure out we're here," Jaden said. "If you finished altering the message to warn the Jedi, we should get going. I'm not leaving this planet till I have Palpatine's head on a silver platter."

"Amen to that."

Yoda hmmed before walking towards the Mandalorian and the ex-drone. "The assistance, I will most likely need."

Ron looked at Obi-wan and Ahsoka. "Check with Senator Amidala. She might be able to point you in the right direction."

Obi-wan, on the verge of tears, silently agreed as the three left.

"Well, Master Kenobi, I guess I'm with you."

* * *

A full 3 hours after they had regrouped at the Temple, the two people linked to Anakin had arrived at the apartment owned by Senator Amidala, spoken with her and found out that she knew where Anakin was.

And that she was married to him and was pregnant, no less. Shocks all around.

And now they were sneaking into her transport, as they couldn't risk getting back to the dangerously low-on-power Ra-Cailum to get a shuttlecraft.

"Well, this is an interesting way to find, Anakin," snipped Ahsoka. "Stowing away aboard a Senator's personal ship."

"It's the only way. I just hope this does lead us to him."

The Nubian transport left the docking platform as soon as they were hidden away, exiting the atmosphere as quickly as her engines would allow.

"So… what will we do to pass the time?" Obi-wan gave Ahsoka a glare. "I learned a few card games from Starfleet. Care for a few hands of fizzbin?"

* * *

On the other side of the coin, Ron, Jaden and Yoda weren't going to get into the Senate building so easily.

"Well, we need to get past a battalion of clones, the new sensor net we installed and any surveillance equipment that Palpy had put in while we weren't looking. Any bright ideas, Jaden?"

"We can go in through the sewage ducts, cut power to the sensor grid and alter the detection programs to make it seem as if all is well," he offered. "We work our way up through the vents, and we should hop out right in front of Palpy's office doors."

"Perfect. I'm perfectly suited for making the alterations. Should take a minute or two to do. Lead the way."

Jaden led the two to a sewer hatch, which Yoda lifted using the Force.

"And now we're knee-deep in the shit."

* * *

**Meanwhile - Mustafar System**

* * *

"Full House."

"You're cheating somehow…"

"You're the Jedi, you'd know if I were cheating. And we just came out of hyperspace."

Obi-wan had been playing fizzbin (a game invented by a Starfleet officer named James T. Kirk) for almost 8 hours now, and if they were playing with betted items, he would be naked by now.

On the other hand, they were now at Mustafar, and on approach to the surface.

Fun and games time was over. It was time to get serious.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Convince Anakin to stand down. Barring that… we're going to have to fight him."

Ahsoka shook her head. "This won't be fun." The ship's landing gears touched the platform and they heard Padme rush out. "Though maybe Padme can talk him out of it…"

"What makes you say that?"

"Unlike what the Jedi Council would want us to believe, Love can still save someone from the dark side," she said. "The biggest example of this was Revan and Bastila during the Jedi Civil War… if Anakin really does love Padme, he'll listen to her."

* * *

The secret (well, not anymore) wife of Anakin Skywalker ran down the ramp of her ship, just in time to be embraced by her husband. "Padme, what are you doing here?! I thought…"

"I was worried about you! Obi-wan and Ahsoka told me that… that you'd fallen to the dark side. That you'd killed hundreds of people that—" Anakin cupped Padme's cheek, gazing into her eyes.

"Padme, it's alright…" He said, "It's over, the war… it's all over now. The Separatist leaders are dead now. Without them, we can finally have peace here in the galaxy. "

"Anakin…" Padme pleaded, "Tell me… was it true? What they said?"

Anakin was silent for a few moments, before he sighed. "I am assuming you spoke with Obi-wan…" he said. "Remember what said before I left about the Jedi?"

"That they rebelled against the chancellor? Yes, I remember." Padme said, "I know you'd never lie to me Anakin, but the Chancellor just reformed the entire Republic into an _empire_, throwing all democracy out the window! And Obi-wan told me you attacked the temple and killed defenseless-"

"_I _did not do that." Anakin reaffirmed, "I lead the 501st to the temple, to put an end to the rebellion before they could attack the Chancellor again… he told me to kill everyone, to show no mercy… but I am not a monster. I had Rex help as many younglings and temple workers escape… but not everyone in the legion got that same order."

Inside the starship, Ahsoka allowed herself a small smile. Anakin hadn't fallen _completely_, there was still some of her former master in there.

Padme was relieved that not _all_ she was told was true, but she was still shocked that Anakin did in fact lead the attack on the temple. "But Anakin… all the Jedi in the temple… " She said, "So many were our friends… not all of them could've been part of… of whatever's going on!"

"I didn't have much choice!" Anakin said, before he sighed. "Padme… these last few months I… I've been having visions, I mentioned them to you before, but… in all of them, you died… giving birth." Padme froze at that, as Anakin continued. "I… I asked Master Yoda for help, without mentioning you… but he just told me to let go of you and everyone I cared about… how could I do that? How can I just let not just you, but possibly our _child_ die? Palpatine… he promised me a way to save you, to save our child… and the Jedi were going to kill him, I just… I can't let that happen! If they find out about this, what do _you _think they'd do to us?"

Padme's head was swirling, all of this informing being so much for her as her world was being tossed upside down. "Anakin, I-" she began to say, however her breath hitched as she felt a strong pain in her stomach… and then collapsed.

"Pa-PADME!" Anakin shouted, kneeling down next to her.

"Shit!" Ahsoka said as she and Obi-wan ran down the ramp.

Anakin's attention was mostly focused on Padme, but then he felt something on the edges of his senses. He looked up before he saw his former master and former apprentice.

"YOU! You're here to kill me! I won't let you touch her!" Anakin used the force to place Padme on the deck, activating his lightsaber.

"Wait, Anakin, we're not here to—" Ahsoka never got to finish her sentence before being forced to activate her own weapons to counter a furious attack by her former teacher.

It appeared Anakin's listening skills were still as bad as ever.

* * *

**Meanwhile - Coruscant**

**Palpatine's Office**

* * *

Palpatine smirked as he leaned back in his chair. Almost everything was going as he had foreseen. While Starfleet's interference cost him unnecessary trouble, he was able to largely succeed in his objectives. The Jedi Temple burned, the council was no more, and the galactic empire now succeeded the Republic. And now that the Separatists were in disarray, and Starfleet withdrawing from their universe, there was no one that could stop him now.

His two Red Guards at the entrance fell to the sound of particle weapons hitting their plasteel armor, sending them to the ground as Jaden Takeo and Ronald Pinkerton walked in, the latter akimboing his compression rifle and a hand phaser - and following them was Master Yoda himself. "Chancellor Palpatine. I could read you the act on crimes against the United Federation of Planets and sentience in general, but the gist of it is we're going to fuck your day up."

"Ah… Mr. Pinkerton and Tackett, and Master Yoda…" he said, before he frowned. "You survived…"

"Surprised?" Yoda asked, shrugging.

"Yeah, killing us is… rather difficult."

"Your arrogance blinds you, Captain. Now you will all experience the full power of the dark side!" Palpatine raised his hands before sending a torrent of lightning at the three. Yoda, unprepared for it, was sent flying into the back wall while Jaden used the force to absorb the electrical power in his hands while Ron used his personal shields to tank the energy, adding it to his internal power cells.

"Well, THAT backfired, Palpy."

Clanking was heard as a squad of IG-2000 magnaguards entered the room via a hatch in the floor, seemingly unarmed. "Oh, come on, make it difficult, Sidious!" The Magnagaurds then drew their weapons: lightsabers. All red.

Jordan glared at Ron. "You just _had _to say it, didn't you?" he asked as he pulled out his lightsabers.

"Hey, I didn't know. But I DO like this." Ron put the compression rifle away, drawing Dooku's old lightsaber as the droids approached.

As the two humans engaged the droids in battle, Sidious got out of his chair, walking towards Yoda. "I've been waiting a VERY long time for this moment, my little green friend." Yoda's ear twitched as Sidious cackled. "At last, the Jedi are no more."

'_Say that, he did not..._' Yoda thought as he stood back up, glaring at the Sith Lord.

"Not if anything to say about it, I have!" He shouted, before he let loose his own force push, sending Palpatine flying back towards his desk, hitting his chair as he flipped over.

"At an end, your rule is." The Emperor stood up, glaring at Yoda and the fact that he the audacity to force push him across the room. The Sith Lord was not pleased.

"And not short enough, it was." Sidious jumped to the door, intending to leave before Yoda jumped in front of him, blocking the exit.

"If so powerful you are… why leave?" Yoda activated his lightsaber, intending to duel Sidious to the death.

"You will not stop me! Darth Vader will be more powerful than either of us!" Palpatine withdrew his holdout lightsaber, activating it.

"Faith in your apprentice, misplaced, may be. As is your faith in the dark side of the force."

"WOULD YOU TWO STOP TALKING AND FIGHT ALREADY?!" Jaden shouted as he blocked the Magnaguard's lightsaber strikes. "_Fuck_ and these things were annoying enough with Force Pikes!"

Yoda lept at Sidious, beginning their duel as Ron hacked the arms off another droid, taking its' lightsaber as his own. "You are SO fucked."

* * *

Back on Mustafar, Ahsoka was fairly annoyed. Anakin had destroyed her lightsaber. HER. FREAKING. LIGHTSABER.

She was now left with the shoto, and she was downright PISSED. And now he was trying to kill Obi-wan with his own weapon.

The battle had begun rather… hectic. While C-3P0 took care of Padme for now, Ahsoka, Anakin and Obi-wan had begun their fight across the mustafar station, with her former master proving to be quite the adversary. Though it seemed that during their battle, they had damaged the ray shields of the base, which protected it from the flashes of lava and magma, as sections of the station were now getting melted off when Lava splashed upon them.

"Oh, that's just great!" The trio took cover, trading one last saber strike before they took cover from the magma shower as the facility arm they were on detached from the heat. A fighting retreat was in order, as they blocked strikes in order to avoid getting dunked in the molten rock by latching onto part of the arm that wasn't going to be submerged.

* * *

"Dodging senate pods—" Ron backflipped with assistance from his rocket boots onto another pod. "Is not my idea—" He took to the air, using the AG-rocket boots to more easily avoid flying projectiles. "Of fun!"

The Magnaguards were all destroyed, but now the clones had decided to enter the building, firing on the Mandalorian and the Starfleet officer while Yoda fought the Emperor.

"YOU! ARE! FUCKING! IDIOTS!" Jaden shouted as he fired at the Clones attacking. "THAT BASTARD IS USING THE FORCE TO FIGHT YODA, DOESN'T THAT TELL YOU SOMETHING?!" Of course the GAR Clones didn't listen as they continued to fire at them.

Finally, Yoda closed the distance, and Palpatine used what Ron had perhaps fittingly dubbed 'lightning hands' to attempt to fry the Jedi Master. Of course, this was YODA we're talking about.

The short Jedi used tutaminis to absorb the lightning, then, closing in, he caused a minor explosion of energy, sending them both flying. Of course, mass played a factor: Palpatine was three times heavier then Yoda, and was only almost sent off the platform. Yoda went flying.

As the ruler of the known galaxy got back into the pod, he smirked at the idea that Yoda was soon to die. "Hey! Asshat!" Palpatine activated his lightsaber in order to face the annoying Starfleet captain, but he never got the chance to trade blows as Ron simply fired his compression rifle, set to high-density beam, at the Sith Lord.

To be more accurate, the Sith Lord's groin.

"OH SHIT!" Jordan shouted, before he began laughing as the 'great' Sith Lord screamed and withered in pain. "This is why I fucking LOVE YOU GUYS!" A blaster bolt hit next to his head. "Oi! Hey, don't interrupt me!"

"We're outnumbered and VERY outgunned! Ra-Cailum, get us out of here!"

The two disappeared in curtains of light before Sidious noticed that Yoda was also missing.

The scream that emanated from the Sith Lord broke windows. And sounded very girlish.

* * *

The doors to the bridge opened, and Ron was grinning like mad. "Well, I did more damage to that bastard then the Jedi ever could. I stole his dignity!"

A brief laugh was shared by the bridge crew before the ship rocked from weapons fire. "Shit. Report!"

"Two Victory-Class star destroyers, bearing down from astern, and we're pretty low on power, boss!"

"Set a course for the sun! We'll use the hydrogen to top off our tanks before we leave. Riza, as soon as we're clear, get us to Mustafar."

Jaden blinked "Wait, why the hell are we going to Mustafar?" He asked.

"We tracked Ahsoka's comm badge there," Corpsa informed, "Odds are that's where Anakin is as well."

The Sovereign-Class ship fired her impulse engines, but could only go at one-half impulse due to the low reserve power. Slow enough that the Victory-Is could easily catch up to weapons range.

"Remodulate the shields and reconfigure them to an absorbing mode, then channel the energy of every turbolaser shot they fire at us into the engines!" The andorian and her Martian counterpart at the engineering post worked in concert, doing exactly as their captain commanded. "We've only got enough power for five-eighths impulse, boss!" "I'll take it!"

* * *

The _Crusader_ continued to fire at the oddly slow Ra-Cailum, which was heading for the sun for reasons her commander failed to understand. They wouldn't survive contact. "Sir, the ship is increasing speed. Her course will take the Ra-Cailum into the mantle of the sun."

"That doesn't make sense. It's suicide. Unless… Damn it. Intensify forward firepower! I want that ship disabled!"

The _Ra-Cailum_ sped forward, as the _Sovereign_-class starship flew towards the sun, as its energy levels were restored. Unfortunately however, the star destroyers did not have the same protection as Starfleet vessels… and a solar flare from the sun destroyed them.

* * *

"Thank God for the Ferengi. Without the metaphasic shields Rega developed, we'd be screwed."

"Energy levels are rising, Captain: we're at 67%. That's enough to get us to Mustafar." The ex-drone nodded in affirmation. "Riza, get us to Mustafar. Maximum speed." The Ra-Cailum then left the sun, engaging her QSD and hyperdrive.

* * *

Back on Planet Hell, Obi-wan was REALLY beginning to hate lava. He and Ahsoka had just narrowly avoided getting burned alive by jumping onto a platform hovering over the lava stream. And fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Anakin had also jumped onto a droid to avoid dying.

'_It still looks cinematic as fuck though,_' Ahsoka though, as they flew over the molten landscape for this climatic battle. '_Of all the worlds to go to, why did it _have _to be this planet? A world that is basically the incarnation of HELL?! The symbolism of this place is off the roof!_'

The droid was forced forward by Anakin's will, and both Jedi, ex and current, were not really in the mood to fight any further. But Anakin wasn't giving them a choice. "We failed you, Anakin. We failed you."

"You came here to murder me and my wife!"

"We came here to TALK to you, you idiot! We didn't come here to fight; we want to HELP you, damn it!"

Anakin's listening skills, or lack thereof, kicked in as he attacked the two Jedi, forcing Ahsoka to jump to another droid as the former student and master fought before Obi-wan jumped to the slope of the river. Ahsoka didn't hear what was said, but she did see the result as Anakin jumped to attack… and Obi-wan dismembered all but one limb.

…and again, she couldn't hear what they said after that, but she got a very clear view of when the Lava caused Anakin's clothes to catch on fire, and burned at his skin, screaming all the way, forcing Ahsoka to look away.

He would be dead in a few minutes from exposure. They had failed.

"_Ra-Cailum to Tano: do you read?! Lieutenant, this is Captain Pinkerton; please respond!_"

Ahsoka tapped her commbadge. "Tano here, sir. We… failed. Anakin's dead." Well, dead enough. Without medical attention, he was doomed.

"…Understood. We've locked onto your position. I'm sorry."

"I know. Senator Amidala needs medical attention, sir. Please… get her out of here."

* * *

**USS Ra-Cailum - sick bay**

* * *

Rutia groaned as she ran scans of Padme's body. "Fuck ME. What sort of stress did this woman put herself through?!"

The door opened, allowing Ron, Jaden and the two Jedi entry. "Report. How is she?"

"Dying. There's complications...lots of them, all related to heavy stress. And normally, that would simply make my job keeping her alive difficult, but not impossible. But her pregnancy makes matters worse. I gotta make a choice: her or the kids."

"Kids?"

"She's carryin' twins, Capt'n."

"Well… shit…" Jaden muttered, "We'd best get to the rendezvous point at Polis Massa with Bail Organa, they've got some of the best medical equipment our galaxy has to offer… if they can't save her..." he let it hang there.

"This sickbay is one of the most advanced in the fleet. If I can't save her, no one can." Rutia turned back to her work, leaving the two men to watch. "She's probably going to die. And I can't do anything to save her… it's as if she lost the will to live."

"She-SHE LOST THE WILL TO LIVE?!" A Black floating ball robot shouted appearing out of nowhere. "What, did you get a degree in poetry?! You sorry bunch of hippies, for god's sake don't use the billions of credits of medical equipment around us, why don't we get down on our knees and pray? SOME OF US DON'T HAVE KNEES MOTHERFUCKERS!"

"Hey-Get lost!" Jaden shouted, as he pushed the robot away. "Sorry… Dr. Ball can be very… persistent."

"Funny. I'll do what I can. But I'd get ready for a burial if I were you." The ship rocked from an impact. "Now what?"

"_Bridge to captain: we've got a destroyer bearing down on us: CIS according to the IFF._"

"We don't have TIME for this! Set a course, bearing 049 mark 079!"

"_Sir, that's going to take us close to—_"

"I know what it's going to take us close to! Do it!"

"You'd think Palpatine would've had a way to take care of the separatists after his grand plan…" Jaden said. "Unless… Hmm, seems Grievous took my advice after all after the battle over Coruscant."

"And the fucker has a SERIOUS grudge." The two left sickbay, heading for a turbolift to take them to the bridge. "This is going to be annoying. I have to reconfigure the deflector dish and make sure we're not shot to hell in the process."

"Why, exactly, do you need to reconfigure the deflector?"

"I'm going to use it to convert a nearby black hole into a one-use rift to our universe. We'll lose that son of a bitch, and we can use a graviton beam to force it back open to get back here and back to Mandalore. It's a bit wasteful, but I don't want to get stalked all the way back to Mandalore by GAR warships. Let them think we're gone."

"…have I mentioned you Starfleet guys do _INSANE _shit, even by Mandalorian standards?" Jaden asked.

"Many times. But you love every second of it."

"Fair point."

* * *

The _Ra-Cailum_ flew VERY fast away from a CIS carrier/destroyer, not wanting to waste time or energy fighting it.

"Report!"

"Providence-Class carrier, 50 kilometers aft, closing at four-fifths impulse! And they're firing everything they've got at us!"

"We should be good so long as we keep up the speed and stay outside their max weapons range, _Providence_-class ships aren't really fast," Jaden said. "But if we're gonna do this thing, we need to do it quick."

"Accelerate to full impulse power, kick in the warp engines if you have to! Corpie, aft torpedoes!" The Andorian didn't bother protesting the nickname before returning fire, sending a spread of red projectiles at the destroyer, scoring direct hits.

"Damage to their main targeting array and internal damage to their power grid! They're slowing down!"

"Direct all power to the main deflector dish! I want a sustained graviton-tachyon beam pointed at that singularity!"

"We better not go back in time from this thing like we did last time." Jaden said, "Knowing Starfleet you'll figure out a way to send us to an alternate universe."

"The less you know, the better."

Six beams were fired from the edges of the dish before they fired off a single beam into the black hole, causing it to start glowing. "The rift is stable, boss!"

"Get us through!"

The Sovereign-Class starship flew through the rift at full speed, with the CIS cruiser being forced to break off to avoid being trapped in the other universe.

* * *

The ship emerged from a rift before going dark.

"Report!"

"Power drain, sir! Warp core and main power are offline, we're on emergencies only!"

Ron groaned before they got the call from sick bay. "_Yulanra to bridge. I've got bad news, sir._"

"What is it, Doctor?"

"_Senator Amidala's condition has worsened. You'd better get down here._"

* * *

**Sick Bay**

* * *

"This is officially the worst week the galaxy has ever known," Jaden said, as Yulanra began helping Padme give birth to the twins. "The Jedi Order's been burnt to ashes, the Republic's morphed into a sith-run Empire… and now one of the most respected senators is about to die of childbirth… are we _ever _gonna get a fucking break?"

"It ALWAYS gets worse before it gets better." Ron winced as the Nubian-born senator beared down, pushing her second child out with help from the Trill doctor. "Speaking of worse, I have no idea where we are in our galaxy: the navigational system's offline. Sonja's working on it, but… We need to get back to your universe first."

"Obi-wan…" Padme whispered, as the Jedi Master in question moved to her side. "There… there's still good… in him… I saw… saw it… Annie… he's still…" Padme's eyes finally closed after she gave her daughter her name. This was followed by a long, shrill tone.

Padme Niberre Amidala, former Queen and senator of Naboo, was dead.

"FUCK!" Ron's fist met the holographic control panel before it shattered, and he left sickbay.

* * *

**Meanwhile - Coruscant**

* * *

Palpatine smirked slightly as he saw the new form of his apprentice, Darth Vader. While it was… unfortunate that he lost most of his limbs, and suffered such catastrophic damage, the fact that he was able to survive losing three limbs, and nearly burnt to a crisp and breathing the ashen atmosphere of Mustafar was just a testament to how strong Lord Vader was, and how much stronger he could become.

Now, as the operating table rose, Darth Vader rose with his new black suit of armor, with an ominous 'Koo-purr' sound as the new Dark Lord breathed, his transformation complete.

"Lord Vader..." Palpatine said, "Can you hear me?"

There was a short pause, before Vader's head turned towards him. "Yes… My Master." He said, "Where is Padme? Is she safe? Is she… alright?"

'_Time for the final touch..._' Palpatine said, as he put on his best acting face. "It appears, that… in your anger… you… killed her..."

Vader was silent for several moments, however Palpatine could feel the force swirling around him - and see it as well as the medical droids around them began to implode around them, as Vader used his newfound strength to break free from his restraints. Palpatine smirked… but that stopped immediately when suddenly his Lightsaber was flung out of his belt, and into Vader's hands before in one fluid motion, he stabbed Palpatine in the torso.

"You take me for a fool… SIdious?" Vader growled at the now wide-eyed Sith. "I did not kill Padme, _I was there_. I almost had her see things my way, realize the war was over thanks to me… but then she went into labor, and my former Master and Padawan arrived... "

He then kicked Palpatine off the Saber's blade. Before Palpatine could use his Force Lightning, Vader proceeded to slice off both of his arms, before he grabbed the Sith Lord in a force choke, lifting him up into the air. "I was so blinded by fear and anger… I thought they would harm Padme, because of the damned Jedi Code," he said. "Now… I see they wouldn't have harmed her… and everything that has happened in this galaxy is because of _you_."

"But no more," Vader continued as his grip tightened. "I will take _your _Empire, and turn it into mine. And I shall recreate this galaxy, so that what happened to Padme… what happened during the Clone Wars will _never _happen again, no matter who will stand in my way… and _you _will not be a part of it." And with that last statement, Vader snapped Palpatine's neck, as the dark lord collapsed onto the ground like a sack of bricks.

Darth Vader turned, as he steadily began to walk out of the operating room, slowly getting use to his new limbs, as he made his way towards the former Chancellor's office. He had much to do, and he was going to need all of Sidious's little 'secrets' he had stored in his computer to build up this new Galactic Empire. He will claim Palpatine was assassinated and mutilated by a Jedi, and that he was appointed as his successor if anything had happened to him. It was better than leaving it all to the damned senate. He only hoped that somewhere in Palpatine's files, he could find someone who would be much more experienced with dealing with politics that he was that he could trust.

* * *

**USS Ra-Cailum - Milky Way, unknown location**

* * *

"We are assembled here today to pay respect to our honored dead."

Everyone wore their standard uniforms, only adding black bars to their pips to show that they were in mourning.

"Senator Amidala was an advocate of peace. Of the Republic's very way of being. We only knew her for a short time, but from our talks and interactions...She would have made a proud member of Starfleet. Even of the Federation Council. And it's a damn shame that she went before her time."

"Honors! HUP!" The assembled crew stood at attention and saluted the torpedo coffin as it was loaded into the tube. A short hiss signaled that it was launched into space.

"Let's make sure her death wasn't in vain. Sonja, get main power online and get us back into the other universe."

* * *

The _Ra-Cailum _spun around and opened the rift again, leaving the torpedo alone in space as she left.

A ship approached the closing rift before it detected the torpedo.

And turned towards it.

* * *

**Ron the True Fan: By GOD it's been a while. But we're BAAAAAAAAACK.**

**Takeshi Yamato: And things have definitely changed from canon ROTS.**

**117Jorn: Palpatine is dead, Vader is now in control of the Empire, the CIS may be down, but they sure as hell aren't out yet, and the Mandalorians are regaining some of their old power. And all of THAT is just in the SW Galaxy - who knows what could happen in the ST galaxy?**

**Ron the True Fan: Prepare for war.**

**Ja Ne!**


	6. Chapter 6

Stars Asunder

* * *

_Captain's Log, Stardate 88059.4: The _Ra-Cailum _has safely arrived back home in our universe after reopening a permanent rift at Mandalore._

_One would think we would get rest after this, but Admiral Tuvok has requested that the _Ra-Cailum _be sent to the Delta Quadrant to assist in Operation Delta Rising over a world called Kobali Prime._

_Is it wrong to have racist feelings about these people, because I have the urge to shove them all through a tritanium wall._

* * *

Ron was sickened by the Kobali.

And so were the Mandalorians that he was transporting to their world.

The dead should be left to rest, not to be taken and turned into what were more or less zombies.

With the Borg, there was a chance of freedom from the collective; a chance to be yourself again.

With the Kobali… you were doomed to be one forever. And Ron hated it, even as he walked to the transporter room with Jaden. "Do I have to make sure your people don't shoot those bastards on principle?"

"If it weren't for the fact it would cause a diplomatic incident, I'd be asking my father to just glass the Kobali's worlds with nukes and turbolasers," Jaden said. "As much as bringing loved ones back to life appeals to me… the way the Kobali do it is an abomination if there ever has been one."

"The only REASON I'm even bothering with this alliance is because I'm not a member of the Federation Council." Both men entered the transporter room, where two people were waiting to hand them their weapons. Ron took his compression rifle and slung it over his shoulder. "There's a war going on down there, and I'm starting to like the opposition more than the Kobali. We're going down there because of this damned alliance."

The transporter activated, and both men left the ship.

* * *

**Geonosis**

* * *

A semi-complete ball hung in orbit of the planet, surrounded by Imperial destroyers of all kinds: _Imperial_, _Victory_, _Venator_, _Secutor_, and _Gladiator_, just to name a few. Using the technology taken from the remains of the _Gagarin_, the Imperials had advanced their technological base forward by thirty years. Finally they were at the same level of technology as the Federation, and no longer would they be bullied by them simply due to their technological superiority.

On the _Imperial I_-class Star Destroyer 'ISD _Devastator_', the new leader of the Galactic Empire stood on the bridge, looking out the front view of the Star Destroyer with the perfect view of both Geonosis below, and the prototype of the Death Star being constructed above. They were only remaining at Geonosis to gather necessary materials for construction before they relocate the prototype to the secret Maw installation being set up to continue their research and development of the imperial superweapon. This colossal battlemoon had to be kept secret from the universe for as long as possible.

As several of the new TIE-series fighters and bombers flew by, Vader contemplated the events of the recent years. It was not difficult to win the public support after Palpatine's 'Second Assassination attempt' by the Jedi, since Palpatine had already arranged several documents announcing Vader as his second-in-command. Now with him dead, that made Vader the overall leader of the Galactic Empire. While he left the minor, insignificant issues to be dealt with the new Imperial Senate, he had a hand in all major decisions within the Empire.

The Clone Wars were over… technically speaking. While the vast majority of the Droid Armies were deactivated, General Grievous had apparently dishooked multiple droid armies from the system, and took full command over dozens of CIS Fleets and Armies, as his forces waltzed into Hutt Space and surrounding systems, and overran the Hutt Cartel's control of the planets, thus inadvertently putting the entirety of those living within Hutt Space in debt to the Separatists for freeing them from the control of the crime syndicate.

Due to the fact that the Empire was still in the process of being built, recovering from the devastation of the clone wars, a cease-fire was agreed between the Separatists within Hutt Space, and the Galactic Empire, giving the Empire the chance to recover from the war. After all, it was only Hutt Space - if Grievous and his Droid Armies could keep that cesspool of scum and villainy pacified, more power to them.

While the CIS was not an issue, Vader's immediate concern was within Mandalorian Space. The Mandalorians were able to gain the support and resources from most of the Council of Neutral Systems during the clone wars, and the alliance with most of these star systems - such as Taris - were still allied with the Mandalorians, who represented their new military and industrial might. Even Dathomir was under their protection now.

Normally Vader would demand for an invasion, but he was no fool. The Empire was still recovering from the war, and the Mandalorian Union was not only allied with the Federation of Planets, but they were strongly tied into the Klingon Empire, who have been helping design and produce dozens of new vessels, weapons and the like to protect Mandalorian Space from Imperial aggression. It would be suicidal to risk opening a new war with not just the Mandalorians, but _also _two galactic powers from another universe, AND risk having the CIS break the cease-fire in the midst of all of this, forcing the Empire into a war on two fronts.

He had read about Human history on the Federation's capital of Earth, and how a leader of a nation called Nazi Germany made that same mistake, dividing his armies between the allies to the west and the soviets from the east. Vader would not dare make that same mistake.

There WERE problems, however: they still couldn't use both shield types at once for very long, and reverse engineering their deflector shields was difficult. Eventually, the engineers gave up before focusing on the deflector dish.

They discovered that a few modifications to the Death Star's superlaser could easily open a rift in space-time, and it could never be closed. As such, the Death Star was being moved near Umbra, to open a rift into the only area of the Milky Way Starfleet could not reach: the Delta Quadrant.

They could make allies, expand the Empire's influence.

And the Chiss commander would be of great use there.

* * *

**Umbra - 3rd Attack Fleet**

* * *

Kendal Ozzel stood on the bridge of the ISD Reprisal, watching over his task force. The Reprisal was part of a seven-ship flight of destroyers: four Clone War-fresh _Venators_, a pair of newly upgraded _Victory II_-Class destroyers and the _Imperial_-Class Reprisal herself. The _Strikefast_ and the _Crusader_ were repaired from fighting the _Ra-Cailum_, and now the Death Star would be arriving soon to get them into the Delta Quadrant.

And if the man performed well, they might promote him to Admiral.

The massive form of the semi-complete station (most of the inner workings were exposed, but advances in shielding allowed them to at least MOVE the damned station) emerged from hyperspace, the concave dish finished enough to fire the superlaser.

"Sir, DS-OBS-1 is requesting if we are ready to begin our mission."

"Inform them the attack fleet is prepared to enter the Delta Quadrant." Ozzel informed, "We are ready to introduce the Galactic Empire to a new universe."

The massive station's dish lit up at six points before firing six green beams into a single point, prior to a single pulse being fired 50000 kilometers from the station, impacting a 'hidden' point in space. A red-green void appeared at that point, just big enough to fit one of the Victory-Is. "DS-1 is recharging. 20 seconds to second firing!"

Five minutes and 15 more pulses later, the rift was now large enough to allow passage for even the largest planned Imperial capital ship.

"This is Captain Ozzel! All ships… ADVANCE!"

* * *

**Delta Quadrant**

**Kazon Order space**

* * *

**[BGM: Star Wars Episode V OST 'The Asteroid Field']**

Five Kazon _Predator_-class Cruisers approached the odd annomally which appeared just outside their boarders, the massive swirling vortex. However just as they began to approach, dozens of Dagger-shaped warships were practically spit out of the vortex.

"_This is Captain Kendal Ozzel of the Imperial Star Destroyer _Reprisal!" A booming voice shouted across the comms. "_This sector is now the territory of the Galactic Empire! Lower your shields, relinquish command of your vessels and submit to the Empire, failure to comply will result in your immediate destruction! This is your only warning!_"

"This is First Maje Sessen of the Kazon-Nistrim! We will not bow to you, as we did not bow to the Voyager!"

The daggers launched a swarm of small H-shaped fighters, then opened fire on the Kazon craft, slowly pecking away at their shields. One raider attempted a kamikaze run on the largest ship, but torpedoes from smaller bombers disabled the ship's engines, leaving it adrift as the Strikefast and the Crusader engaged the carriers.

The two small vessels circled the Kazon warship, and aided by their TIEs and whatever Clone War fighters they had left, the ship was disabled.

"_Prepare to be boarded, Kazon scum!_" Ozzel announced, as TIE boarding craft were launched, making a beeline towards the disabled Kazon vessel. "_To all other ships, continue the advance! Teach the Kazon what happens to those who oppose the Empire!_"

The _Reprisal_ hung back as it activated its tractor beams, luring the Kazon ship closer as the boarding craft attached. Meanwhile the rest of the Imperial attack force pushed forwards towards the nearest Kazon planet, which was already beginning to scramble defenses against this new enemy.

Not that it would do them much good.

The Empire had come. And it was never going to leave.

* * *

Sessen groaned as the white-armored men dragged him before someone. It had been five days, and he had been beaten, electrocuted, poisoned - you get the idea, right? Tortured.

Kooh. Purr.

The son of Culleh and Seska looked up into the face of the conqueror. Black as night, wearing full armor with a helmet that intimidated him.

"Greetings, Maje Sessen of the Nistrim. I am Darth Vader, leader of the Galactic Empire."

"The Federation shows its' true colors at last."

"The United Federation of Planets is not related to the Empire. And you will learn."

The Cardassian-Kazon hybrid was lifted off the ground… without anyone touching him as he choked. In his field of vision were other Kazon Majes of the Hobii, the Oglamar, the Halik and the Mostral. All wore fearful expressions on their faces. "I command the power of the Force. You are nothing to that. As you resisted, Sessen, you will suffer the fate of all the enemies of the Empire."

Sessen's head then snapped upwards at a 100-degree angle. This broke his neck, killing the Maje of the Nistrim.

"Serve the Empire, and you will be rewarded. Fail… and you will die."

The Majes all bowed before the Dark Lord, swearing fealty to him.

* * *

**Kobali Prime**

* * *

"The stench is overwhelming."

Sonja glanced at her CO, who was glowering at everything in the Kobali city.

"The stench?"

"Of the reanimated dead."

"Preaching to the choir…" Jaden said, as he kept his helmet on. "Nothing here feels right… I just can't stop thinking about the fact everyone around us are basically _zombies_."

"At the very least they're not _mindless_ zombies," Sonja said. "They don't exist."

"Yes they do," Jaden said, causing Sonja and the others to blink as they looked at him.

"…wait, what?" Sonja asked.

"Ever heard of Odacer-Faustin?" he asked. "Quick tip: Never go there. Me and my sister got stranded there, took refuge at an old abandoned Sith Academy from the Great Galactic Wars. The place is overrun with - and I shit you not - flesh eating, skin decaying, mindless zombies just like the ones from those video games you people from Earth had during the 21st century." He then smirked slightly. "Hah, for once we get to surprise Starfleet with what we've got, not the other way around."

"_Voyager to Pinkerton._"

Ron tapped his commbadge. "Yes, Admiral?"

"_We are picking up distress calls from a Malon vessel. Your vessel is perfectly suited to dealing with the situation._"

"Understood, Admiral. I'll be back on board in a minute. THANK YOU."

Ron grinned nervously. "Sorry. I have to leave you here with the mindful zombies," he said. "Your dad's orders. The Vaadwaur want this planet, and your job is to make sure they don't get it."

"With the fleet we've got overhead, they wouldn't try anything-" Jaden began to say, before an explosion in the distance echoed across the city, as they turned around to see a pillar of smoke arise from the center of the city near the mountains. "…goddamn you irony…" He turned his Jetpack on as he flew up into the skies, making a beeline towards the smoke.

* * *

A Vaadwaur strike team entered the base, shooting everything that wasn't Vaadwaur that got in their way.

Unfortunately, as they advanced further into the base… a certain individual wearing Mandalorian Shock Trooper armor stood before them, wielding dual WESTAR-34 pistols. "Alright Vaadwaur," Jaden said, as he calmly walked forward, twirling the pistols around in his hands. "I can understand why you don't like these guys - hell, they're a race of literal _zombies_, after all, _but _unfortunately for you, my mission is to keep these undead creeps alive… so I'm gonna take out all of my frustration out on _you_."

He proceeded to open fire on the Vaadwaur soldiers, as they fell victim to the Mandalorian's assault. They returned fire, but the few shots that hit were only met by his personal energy shield. One Vaadwaur attempted to charge at him with a knife, but Jaden dropped one of his pistols and flung out his Darksaber sword and sliced the Vaadwaur's head clean off.

An explosion was felt deeper inside the base, and Jaden groaned in annoyance. The shit never ends.

More assault teams were inside the base, making their way to the core of the facility. Jaden shot as many as he could before using the darksaber to hack the rest into dismembered corpses. He was ready to head back when he peered into the open security door. He saw a stasis tube in the center of a large chamber filled wall-to-wall with tubes. All full of Vaadwaur, Some in the process of converting into Kobali.

'_No wonder the Vaadwaur hate these guys…_' Jaden thought as he inspected the tubes, seeing the people inside. '_If I found out someone I knew was being turned into a Zombie I would - wait, the fuck?!_'

As Jaden was inspecting the tubes, one tube had a set he didn't expect. A human woman.

Not just any human: Padme Amidala.

Either the Kobali were suicidal, or they just didn't CARE.

"…Oh that fucking TEARS it!" He shouted as he activated the Comms. "Takeo to all Shock Troops! Clear this place of Vaadwaur, then secure the stasis room! I don't want a damn thing getting in here, either Vaadwaur OR Kobali! I'm contacting Pinkerton!"

The Mandalorian rushed to a console that the Kobali had installed and automatically typed in the Ra-Cailum's contact frequency.

"_Whoever the hell this is can… wait. Oh, Jaden. What the hell's going on? I've got issues on my end, over here; there's a freaking—_"

"THEY HAVE PADME'S BODY!"

"…_What…?_"

"Ron, I am looking at Padme's body in stasis RIGHT NOW!" Jaden shouted, "The Kobali have Padme, and they're gonna do that bullshit where they bring her back to life as a goddamned Kobali Zombie! I know we don't want to start an incident here, but this shit is GOING TO FAR!"

"…And you just gave the Imperials an excuse."

"What?!"

"This channel isn't secure and I'm tap-dancing with an Imperial-Class destroyer and two Venators!"

The idea of the Empire having found a way into Ron's universe was a concern… however an idea hit Jaden's head before he smirked. "Unsecured, huh?" he asked. "Oh hey Vader! Since I know you'll probably listen to this… Fuck the Kobali for us, would you please? Ron hates them, I hate them… but you get free reign to fuck them all to oblivion and back as far as I'm concerned. And once my dad finds out about this, he'll probably just _let _you glass the planet."

"I'm pulling back! Hope and pray, kid!"

* * *

Tuvok glared at Jaden, who looked unrepentant. "You willingly informed the Imperial Navy of this. If Captain Pinkerton were not willing to vouch for you, I would have you pressed with charges of treason under the Khitomer and Coruscant Accords. I am also tempted to charge him. You have good friends in high places, Commander."

"The are trying to bring _Padme_ from the _dead _as a ZOMBIE," Jaden said. "Usually, I can be very tolerant of other cultures… but what _they're _doing is nothing short of an abomination! They won't just bring her to life, they're gonna convert her into one of them, and she probably won't even remember her life as a senator! As much as bringing the dead back to life appeals to me and many others, this is NOT the way to do it!"

Tuvok had to deal with that argument earlier, as well… from the Klingons.

And when a race that doesn't give two flying fucks about the bodies of their dead rants about it, you KNOW you have a problem.

"This would not have happened if Captain Pinkerton did not bury her in space."

"Do NOT redirect blame to him, Admiral! All he did was try to honor her and make sure she rested in peace!"

And logic once again kicked the Vulcan's ass.

"Your point is true. However, the captain would be the first to point out that our mission is to defend this world. We do not have to like this mission to carry it out." and Jaden knew Ron well enough to know he WOULD say that.

"Well, our mission is to defend them from the Vaadwaur, _not _the Imperials," Jaden said. "And the last thing we want is to ignite a war with the Imperials. So our options is to just let them have Kobali space - which really isn't that tactically important to anyone - or stay and fight, and possibly start a war with the Galactic Empire. And before you say anything about diplomatic solutions… this is the _empire_, lead by _Darth Vader_ we are talking about."

"I will consult with Starfleet Command. If they give the order to retreat from Kobali Prime, then I will follow it to the best of my ability. Until then, we will hold this planet."

* * *

**ISD **_**Chimaera**_ **\- Kazon-Relora space**

* * *

Vader stood on the bridge of the Chimaera, continuing to scare the living shit out of everyone on board just by BEING there.

"Sir, transmission from the Reprisal. You will want to see it."

Vader turned to face the comms officer before heading for the aft area of the command deck.

The image of now-Admiral Ozzel (promoted by Tarkin, against Vader's private wishes) appeared on the holoemitter, looking sharp and proper.

Vader wanted to KILL the fool.

"My Lord, we've intercepted a transmission from a Federation starship. The Ra-cailum." "I know that vessel, Admiral. What about it?"

"You… will want to hear this, milord."

The recording began to play. "_Whoever the hell this is can… wait. Oh, Jaden. What the hell's going on? I've got issues on my end, over here; there's a freaking—_"

"_THEY HAVE PADME'S BODY!_"

"…_What…?_"

"_Ron, I am looking at Padme's body in stasis RIGHT NOW!" _Jaden shouted, "_The Kobali have Padme, and they're gonna do that bullshit where they bring her back to life as a goddamned Kobali Zombie! I know we don't want to start an incident here, but this shit is GOING TO FAR!_"

Vader didn't pay attention to Ozzel's ranting about the 'treatment of an asteamed senator's body' and the 'lack of respect'.

He wanted vengeance. And by the Force, he was going to GET it.

"_Unsecured, huh?_" Jaden said on the comm, "_Oh hey Vader! Since I know you'll probably listen to this… Fuck the Kobali for us, would you please? Ron hates them, I hate them… but you get free reign to fuck them all to oblivion and back as far as I'm concerned. And once my dad finds out about this, he'll probably just let you glass the planet._"

"…Admiral Ozzel, prepare your fleet." Vader growled. "If they want us to destroy the Kobali… we shall be more than happy to comply."

* * *

**Kobali Prime**

* * *

"Most of our forces have been ordered to pull back to Kobali prime for staging reasons. Other then the Dyson sphere, this is our primary base of operations."

Everyone avoided looking at Ron, as his ship was the flagship of the SCE. He could build a starbase for the Alliance easy.

He was just too busy to do so.

"The Imperials WILL be coming for this planet, Admiral." Ron said. "I say let them. Starfleet regulations are VERY clear on the Federation's policy of interfering with two non-member's affairs."

Jaden resisted smirking at Ron's use of Federation law to justify them NOT defending the Kobali.

Tuvok, however, was having none of it. "Unless the Imperials avoid directly engaging a Federation starship, we will stay out of it. However, Captain, you DID bury Senator Amidala in space. The Imperials will likely target your ship."

"Vader is smart enough to know he shouldn't blame Ron for what the Kobali are doing." Jaden said, "Plus he knows your prime directive just as much as we do - he knows we won't raise a finger to stop them as long as he doesn't shoot at us."

Tuvok refused to let it go any further. "Once our forces are at the planet, we will send them back to the Dyson sphere, and a skeleton force will be left behind for humanitarian support." The Vulcan's gaze turned to the senior staff of the Ra-Cailum, and Ron's head banged against the back wall. "Damn it."

* * *

**ISD **_**Chimaera**_ **\- en route to Kobali Prime in hyperspace**

* * *

Darth Vader strode onto the _Chimaera_'s bridge as the conn officer called out the approach to Kobali Prime. The fleet was ready for a full-frontal assault of the system, and Vader was hoping to avoid engaging Starfleet or any of the 'local' races unless necessary. The blue-skinned Chiss standing at the commander's station had his arms crossed pensively, and Vader detected a note of concern in his mind. "Commander Thrawn. What concerns you?"

The Chiss turned to Vader, bowing to the Sith lord respectfully. "Lord Vader, I cannot help but be concerned—we know very little about these Kobali, about their capabilities and numbers, and most importantly their culture."

"Culture, Commander Thrawn?"

"Yes, my lord. If you know your enemy, you know how to defeat him; and the best way to learn the way an enemy thinks is by learning his culture."

Vader hummed through his respirator, considering. "A wise statement, Commander Thrawn. I take it Admiral Ozzel and Captain Needa do not share your concerns?"

"With respect, Lord Vader, Captain Needa dismissed my concerns out of hand and refused to pass them on. He said, and I quote, 'we do not need to understand pathetic inferior species, you over-ranked xeno'. Lieutenant Pellaeon attempted to express his support for my position, but Captain Needa ordered him to be silent and formally reprimanded him. I attempted to advise another plan of attack, but Captain Needa ordered me to stand down and attached a formal reprimand to my file, my Lord."

Vader wheezed deeply through his mask. "Bring Captain Needa to me, now."

"At once, Lord Vader." Thrawn bowed and marched off of the bridge.

The _Chimaera_ dropped out of hyperdrive, a star and a tiny planet visible on the viewscreen. Vader looked to his side in shock; they were supposed to be closer to the planet, and come out shooting! The monsters who had taken his wife would be warned, alerted!

"You! Lieutenant!"

"Yes, my Lord?" squeaked the communications officer.

"Why did we drop out of hyperspace? What is Ozzel doing? Why are our weapons not powering up?"

"My Lord, Admiral Ozzel said that we should hang back, in order to see what the Kobali have at their disposal; he fears that no species can be as militarily weak as they claim to be…"

"He is as foolish as he is incompetent! Put him on, now!"

A mustached older man appeared on the viewscreen. "Ah, Lord Vader, I… urgh… gack!"

The man with Captain's stripes behind Ozzel barely spared a glance for his choking superior. "Lord Vader?"

"What is your name, Captain?"

"Piett, sir. Captain Firmus Piett."

"Did you support this imbecile's plan?"

"No, my Lord. I, my first officer, several Captains, and Commander Mitth'raw'nurudoo of _Chimaera_ advised Admiral Ozzel to begin the assault with an immediate attack after rapid deceleration near the planet; we believed that this would counter for our limited knowledge of Kobali military strength."

"Congratulations on your promotion, _Admiral_ Piett. Begin the assault; prove your worth as a commander to me."

"At once, Lord Vader." The man bowed, and Vader signalled for the communications officer to cut the comm.

"Imbeciles," growled Vader as he strode off of the bridge. "Must I do _**everything **_myself?"

He was halfway to the fighter bay when he remembered the other idiot that he'd been going to execute.

* * *

**USS** _**Enterprise **_**\- Kobali Prime orbit**

* * *

Ahsoka rubbed her temples as she manned the communications station on board the flagship of the fleet. Her new hollow pip alongside the other two added some amount of guilt as she remembered how she got it.

'For gallant actions during the Fall of the Republic, and service above and beyond the call of a Starfleet officer'. Those actions involved nearly killing her master.

"Captain, I'm picking up a large fleet on sensors!"

Shon glanced back at Jirelle Kev, not in the mood for more bullshit. "More Vaadwaur?" "No sir. THey're all Imperial! Imperial, Victory and Venator-Class destroyers with… Kazon ships escorting?"

"Well, no surprise there that they were able to capture Kazon space so quickly," Shon said. "Put us on Yellow Alert."

"Imperial vessels, bearing 349 mark 083. Course, heading straight for the planet. Their weapons are armed, and… targeting the Kobali ships in orbit. Sir, they're not targeting us."

"Just as well. Tell our ground teams to get the hell off the surface."

* * *

**Imperial Star Destroyer **_**Relentless**_

* * *

_Grand Admiral_ Firmus Piett pulled up a holographic battle map. "How far are the Federation forces?"

"Ten minutes at current speed, Admiral," said a lieutenant in service greys.

Piett's lips tightened. "Then we need to move fast to eliminate resistance and set up a defensive picket before they arrive. Order Star Destroyers _Intolerant_, _Valiant_, and _Manticore_ to move forward at full sublight." Piett zoomed in on the Kobali ships. "These frigates are barely spaceworthy compared to the Federation vessels I have experience with. Order overwhelming force from _Intolerant_, with _Valiant_ and _Manticore_ two kilometers back to provide support in case of a trap. Launch all fighters, from all vessels."

"At once, Grand Admiral."

Piett examined the holomap again. Ten Kobali frigates, versus a dozen of Emperor Palpatine's finest warships. By all expectations, it should be an easy victory, but Piett knew that he had to move fast or those Federation warships would cut his battle group to pieces if they decided to engage.

"Receiving a priority comm from _Chimaera_, Grand Admiral," said a comm officer.

"Put it on."

"_Admiral Piett_," said the blue-skinned Chiss on the viewer. "_This is Captain Thrawn. Lord Vader has relieved Captain Needa of command. Permanently._"

"I see. Move _Chimaera_ up to flank _Vengeful_."

"_Understood. _Chimaera _out._"

"Lieutenant, signal _Determination_ to support Captain Thrawn." Piett eyed the Federation ships. He still had time… "Get me Lord Vader."

* * *

Vader's comlink chimed as he climbed into the cockpit of his new TIE X1, and he blinked it up on his heads-up display. A hologram of Grand Admiral Piett appeared before a 3-D tactical map.

"Lord Vader." Piett didn't bow; Vader idly thought that he'd never seen a man so stiff, and choked Needa slightly harder. "I need precise orders, my lord; do you want the fleet to begin immediate glassing of the planet, or do you wish for us to secure the Kobali population?"

Vader wheezed for a moment, Needa's last gasps in the background as the Sith mused. "Hold the planet, Admiral Piett. Let the Kobali know the true meaning of despair before I annihilate them. And, Admiral Piett?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"If you see… what they turned my wife into… take her alive, and undamaged."

"As you wish, my lord. Piett out."

Needa finally had the good grace to die, so Vader released his Force choke and turned to Thrawn. "Captain Thrawn, I require a fighter wing. I will lead the attack myself."

"As you wish, my lord. I will have Alpha Squadron waiting on your command."

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

"Imperial ships are heading for the Kobali vessels in orbit. They're launching fighters… I've never seen them before!"

The tactical console began beeping furiously. "Sir, the Kazon ships are breaking formation; they're on attack vector!"

Ron shook his head. "Morons. Red alert. All hands, stand to battle stations! Contact the Raging Tempest and get them to give us a frigate-sized fighter screen!"

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_

* * *

"So, looks like the Kazon still have a bit of a hard-on for Starfleet," Takeshi remarked, as he oriented the ship towards the oncoming ships.

"Given what happened with Voyager, can you blame them?" Linda asked.

Takeshi sighed. "Not really. Still, their ships have never been that much of a threat. This should be over pretty quickly." He opened up the throttle, sending the ship at the incoming Kazon ships, before opening up with the Quad Cannons.

One of the raiders was outright obliterated by the attack, and the debris fell into the atmosphere. And the _Sao Paulo_ was about to get help.

Takeshi, like most in Starfleet, had VERY low opinions of these ships. But now he was about to like them a LOT more.

"This is Commander Fox of the USS Juliet. Need a hand?" A flight of eight ships entered view, firing on the Kazon in a FAR more aggressive manner than even Takeshi could imagine.

"Sir, I think my opinion of the _Miranda_ just skyrocketed," Kim remarked.

"Agreed," Takeshi replied, his jaw agape. "They might be explosive cannon fodder these days, but it seems they can still pack a punch."

The ship then shuddered as a lucky shot from one of the heavier Kazon ships made it through the shields.

"Shields at 84%, minor buckling of hull plating on deck 3, section 9," Matt reported.

And now the Battle of Kobali Prime had begun.

* * *

**ISD **_**Chimaera**_

* * *

Thrawn wanted to throttle the Kazon. While they made effective cannon fodder, they were also IDIOTS.

'_We didn't want to involve the Federation. If there is anything more dangerous than a democracy united in war, I do not know what it is!_'

"Captain, the Ra-Cailum is bearing down on us!"

'…_Though this DOES present me with a potential challenge,_' he thought. "Turn us to engage," he ordered. "Let's see if Captain Pinkerton is as deadly as the records claim he is."

The _Ra-Cailum_ charged at the ISD at full speed, using the _Sovereign_-Class ship's VERY tiny frontal profile as a kind of defense. And while they had improved their targeting computers, they weren't as accurate as Starfleet's weapons. "Evasive maneuvers. Make it more difficult for him to hit us." The _Chimaera_ turned sharply, if slowly, to make her a harder target for the Starfleet battleship. "She's flying over us! Coming about—" The _Chimaera_ rocked from dozens of impacts. "Sir, picking up a squadron of fighters! IFF IDs them as the 9th Tactical Fighter Wing!"

Thrawn hmmed in thought. "He used his ship as cover for the fighters. Impressive," he said. "Launch our own squadrons, keep them at bay, Redirect all Ion and Turbolaser batteries at the _Ra-Cailum._"

* * *

"Incoming fire from the _Chimaera_!"

The Ra-Cailum rocked from multiple impacts before Riza got them out of the line of fire.

"Come to bearing 215 mark 84! Forward torpedo launchers, target the _Chimaera_'s engines!"

Three blue balls of death impacted the _Chimaera_'s rear quarter, sending the large ship into a semi-controlled spin.

"Recall our fighters and get us out of here! This isn't our fight!"

"9th Fighter wing, RTB! We're leaving!"

* * *

"Sir, the Ra-Cailum and other Federation vessels are retreating! We've won!"

"Have repair teams prepare to patch the damage, and prepare for the ground assault." Thrawn ordered, not wasting a moment. "Without the Federation to protect them, let us see if these Kobali truly are as inferior as we've been told."

As the crewmen followed his orders, Thrawn watched as the _Ra-Cailum_ withdrew with the other Federation vessels, with a small smirk on his face.

'_A worthy challenger, indeed…_' he thought. '_I look forward to our next match… Captain Pinkerton._'

* * *

**Jenolan Dyson Sphere**

* * *

The fleet had regrouped, all inside the neutronium ball. "We didn't lose anyone, but the Kobali forces fell back with us. The planet's in Imperial hands now."

Shon stared at the fleet outside the building that was now the unofficial HQ of the Delta Alliance. "And?"

Ron snorted as he handed Shon the PADD. "Sugihara's raising a shitstorm."

"Ambassador Motormouth?" Takeshi asked, wincing. "Ouch. I feel sorry for whoever has to listen to his ranting."

"Don't be: it's Admiral Jellico." Any sympathy instantly faded. EVERYONE hated that bastard; he was a competent leader, but a hardass of epic proportions.

"In that case, couldn't happen to a nicer guy," Takeshi said with a slight grin, though it faded in short order. "Anyway, any ideas how the Imperials managed to open their own portal to our galaxy? That's the only way they could be here, as far as I know."

"They DO have access to the wreckage of a _Nebula_-Class starship," Ron said. "Hook up enough reactors to the damn thing and you can tear open a rift to any universe. They just so happen to like OURS. Anyways, I've taken the liberty of having our ships resupplied. Knowing Sugihara, he'll make that obstinate bastard Jellico bitch to Janeway, who will then bitch to Admiral Quinn." And once THAT happened, they would be fighting the Imperials.

"And there goes the neighborhood…" Jaden said with a sigh. "Galactic Empire vs the CIS Remnants, the Federation, The Mandalorians, and Klingons… and I can safely bet the Borg'll somehow get involved, along with all the other nasties from your universe like the Elachi, Undine and hell why not even those Iconian freaks I keep hearing about? It'll be a motherfucking free-for-all before we know it… wonder what they'd call this war in the history books? The Great Universal War, the Two Galaxies War… possibilities are endless."

"Well, if anything, we're being thrown into the fire. I'd better send a call for new blood. My MACOs have been demanding more people for WEEKS, and if the boarding actions the GAR liked doing were any indication, we're likely to get boarded. A LOT."

The ex-drone left the office, going straight for the transporter room.

* * *

**Mandalore**

* * *

"So, the Imps are pressing us to just abandon the Klingons, and just join you?" Aren asked, as the Imperial 'Representative' sat before him, who was none other than the Commander of the Blazing Claw army, Sutura.

"I was closest to the Mandalorian Sector, so they sent me," she said, before she sighed. "Aren… it's not looking very good… the Empire recognizes you're with the Klingons, but for the hardliners that's not what they want, they want Mand'alor for its Beskar, but for _what _I haven't the foggiest."

"You think your cover could be blown?" Aren asked with a bit of worry, however Sutura shook her head.

"For the most part, I'm still in the clear." She said, "Most of the men under my command are loyal to me, recruited directly from the Gordian Reach, or are former GAR Clones. I had those biochips in their skulls removed the moment I heard about them, so I don't need to worry about Vader Order 66ing me or my officers… but there are some in other sector armies that have been pushing their noses where they don't belong… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting worried."

Aren sighed, as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "We're gonna get through this, you know that right?" He asked, "Between you, me, the Klingons, Federation and the CIS Remnants, we've got more than enough force to hold our own against the Imperials."

"I know, but…" Sutura said sighing, "If it comes to the worst… they may send me to 'pacify' your sector of space…" she said, "If that happens… Aren I _can't _let that happen… I don't want to leave the Empire, I see _potential_, but with the way things are going, the Empire may be worse off than the Republic ever was unless someone does some drastic changes…"

"We'll be _fine_," Aren said, as he held Sutura close. "We've got plans for this… worst comes to worse, you, your men and their families can make a one-way trip here to Mandalore where you'll be safe… I won't let anything happen to you or your people."

Sutura smiled a bit as she let herself lean into Aren's embrace, "Its been so long… since we've been together like this…" She whispered. "Since I've seen our kids…"

"They're doing fine, Sutura." Aren said smiling, holding his secret wife. "They completely understand your situation… you'd be amazed how much Amy is like you…"

"I can't wait to see them again…" She said, looking up at Aren, with a rather seductive smirk. "Though… while we're here… alone…"

"This _is _supposed to be official business, here…" Aren said with an equally large grin as he began to slide off her uniform.

"I've got three days before I need to leave - got plenty of time." Sutura said, before the two kissed.

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

Ron sat at his desk, reviewing new personnel transfers. "Ah, new blood."

Riza handed Ron another PADD. "New MACO transfers, sir."

"They've been bitching for months no—" the captain's eyes widened at the five names on the list. "NO. Not THEM."

"They DID pass training courses, onii-sama."

"She kicks me in the face! With HIGH-HEELS."

"Umm… who are you guys talking about?" Jaden asked.

The Pinkerton siblings glanced at one another, but neither answered as the door opened.

Corpsa leaned into the room, smiling. "They're HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE."

"Send them in. And tell her that if she kicks me in the fa—" Ron was sent flying backward into the wall before Jaden noticed his attacker.

She was younger then any Starfleet officer he'd met, which VERY long black hair and violet eyes. She was only 4'10, but those eyes held hidden experience to them. She was older then she looked.

"Captain."

"Homura. What have I said about KICKING ME IN THE FACE?"

The cold girl simply flicked her hair back. "I still haven't forgiven you. As such, I will continue to kick you."

"It was an accident!"

Jaden glanced between 'Homura' and Ron. "So, uhh… introductions, please?" He asked, gaining their attention.

"Jaden, this is Homura Akemi. Homu, Jaden Takeo, son of—"

The girl's high-heeled shoe met Ron's face again before he collapsed on the desk. "I know who he is, Captain. Unlike my… comrades, I bother to read your mission reports."

"Sheesh, Homerun! The man apologized the last time!" Jaden's attention was diverted to a redhead around the same age, with her long hair done in a ponytail. "Yo. Kyoko Sakura. You must be that Mando guy we've heard about."

"Uh, yes that me," Jaden said. "Jaden Takeo… nice to meet you both."

She pulled out a box full of chocolate-coated wafer sticks, and Jaden cautiously took one. "Hey, Pinky! Homu still kickin' you in the face?"

"What do you think?"

Kyoko smirked, showing off one of her canine teeth. "See, the big guy accidently walked in on Homura and her girlfriend. LOTS o' screaming from blacky and he was covered in bruises."

That made no sense. Ron had the reflexes of a Jedi: how the hell could a little girl kick HIS ass?

"…how the hell does a de-borged Starfleet officer that can successfully go toe-to-toe with Sith Lords get his ass kicked so easily by… her?" he asked, as Homura continued to glare at Ron.

"Oh, Homu can stop time."

Jaden blinked, before looking at Ron for confirmation. "She can. I've seen it. Actually, YOU'VE seen it. She's not fully human anymore thanks to a certain monster. Here. YOU try stopping her."

Jaden chuckled before his face felt something hitting it at high speed, knocking him to the ground. He didn't even sense it: no warning at all.

"Stay away from Madoka, or else." The girl left the room, and Jaden gave Ron a look.

"It's a long story. In a nutshell, she's from an alternate universe that ran on a different set of rules."

"…" Jaden was silent for roughly a minute, before he growled and looked up "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR UNIVERSE!" he shouted. "IS THERE NO END TO YOUR GODDAMNED INSANITY?!"

The grins on the faces of the siblings and the Andorian tactical officer. "Trust me. the insanity NEVER ends. Let's introduce you to the others."

* * *

Waiting in the mess hall were three girls roughly the same age as Homura and Kyoko: one had pink hair (Ron assured Jaden it was natural; the Mandalorian did NOT want to know how) while the other two were an older blonde and a girl with short-chopped blue hair.

"Ladies." Pink and Blue looked at the older captain. "Ronald-san. It's good to see you again—what happened to your face?"

"Your girlfriend happened, Madoka. Ladies, this is Jaden Takeo. Jaden, Madoka Kaname, Sayaka Miki and Mami Tomoe."

Jaden followed Ron's arm as he introduced them: Madoka was pink, Sayaka blue and Mami was the blonde.

"Where's Kyoko and Homura?"

"Engineering, pestering Sonja for new guns. Speaking of which, I need to get down there. Jaden, I think you should get to know them: you'll be working with them for the foreseeable future."

"Uhh… alright…" Jaden said as he looked at the women before him. "So… alternate universes, right?"

Madoka nodded sadly. "Yes. We're sort of refugees now. The only survivors."

Sayaka groaned. "Come on, Madoka, let's not think about that," she said, before turning to Jaden. "You've met Homura, right?" Jaden nodded. "Well, she used to be shy and clumsy. At least, she SAID she was. See, transfer student's from an alternate future: her mind is ANCIENT. 500 years old. And she's kinda crazy and overprotective of Madoka here."

"…Transfer students… from an alternate future universe..." Jaden repeated. "What kind of universe are you from?! A Magical Girls anime from Japan?!"

Mami flinched at the term. "Uh… not exactly; it was the past for us. and I wouldn't say that around Mami: she's still guilty about… certain events." Sayaka pulled out a gem of some kind.

"I call her that because she WAS a transfer student." She said, "And the term is 'Puella Magi', although 'lich' is a lot more accurate." Jaden was confused until Sayaka placed the gem on the table. "The Captain calls this thing a 'consciousness receptacle'; the Enterprise ran into something similar a century back or something. Basically, we're running our bodies by remote from these things. We call them 'Soul Gems' for a reason."

"So… you really WERE a Magical Girl or… a 'Puella Magi'…" Jaden said, "And your souls… are inside those Gems… controlling your body… who in the FUCK DOES THAT?!"

Mami gave Jaden a picture of a cat-like animal with 'arms' coming out of its' ears and rings around the 'wrists'. "Calls itself Kyubey. Oh, don't worry, Ronnie boy already dealt with it." Sayaka smiled gleefully. "Trapped the bastard in his own body using those Borg implants of his, then gave him to admiral Quinn. As a footwarmer." The overly-quiet Mami then stood up and left the mess hall.

"What's with her?"

Madoka smiled sadly. "Kyubey manipulated Mami for years. when she found out, she just… lost her voice."

Preying on emotionally vulnerable girls? Even the Sith had better standards than that.

"…what the fuck kind of person DOES that?!" He asked.

"One that doesn't have any emotions. For that sick thing's race, they're a 'mental disorder'. But that's something we don't need to worry about anymore."

"Yeah, a collapsing universe kinda solves ALL our problems. Took out the Incubators in one shot." Sayaka smiled sadly, trying to hide her own pain. "So, you've got some interesting stories to tell, right?"

* * *

Ron and Takeshi stood in the tactical room with Tuvok and several others. "The mission to retake Kobali Prime will commence at 0200 hours. The Raging Tempest and the Ra-Cailum will go through the enemy line under cloak to land MACO and Mandalorian assault teams on the surface."

"May I say, Admiral, that I will undertake this mission with the GREATEST reluctance? I hold less love for the Kobali than the Imperials do."

Tuvok ignored the Captain's objections. "Once we have control of the primary anti-ship weapons array the Empire has set up on the surface, we will direct it to fire on all Imperial targets in orbit. This will allow more ground forces to land without incident."

"As long as we don't get shot to pieces in the process," Takeshi snarked. "Honestly, not looking forward to this - and not just because I don't like the Kobali. I'm getting a bad feeling about this…"

"You and half the fleet." Ron's older communicator (used only when he didn't want to have loud yelling from his combadge) beeped before he opened it. "Pinkerton."

"WHERE IS THAT LITTLE FUCKER?!"

Ron flinched at the yell. "I assume you've heard about that little bunny-cat, Jaden."

"_THAT THING DESERVES TO FUCKING DIE!_" Jaden shouted, "_THAT SHIT IS INEXCUSABLE! I WANT TO KILL IT AND USE ITS FUR FOR MY NEW BOOTS!_"

Takeshi and Ron shared a look before both men chuckled. "That's a new one. As soon as we're done with this op, I'll get in contact with Admiral Quinn. Maybe the Federation Council will finally make up its' mind about that thing." Which was the ONLY reason it was still alive, if paralyzed. THey STILL hadn't decided on that thing's fate.

"_You know, I'm in need of killing shit on the ground. I think I'll join you on Kobali Prime._"

* * *

**Kobali Prime orbit - ISD **_**Chimaera**_

* * *

Thrawn stared at the planet below, unimpressed. The Kobali were inflexible and doomed to extinction because of their mistakes. Only those willing to bend and accept change would survive.

"Admiral, Lord Vader is currently awaiting a report on the status of the other forces invading the planet."

"Please inform Lord Vader that they are pressing on the Kobali cells on the planet's surface and avoiding contact with our forces." Pellaeon nodded before walking off.

"It's strange." The human paused before looking at Thrawn.

"Sir?"

"The Borg. They have the tactical knowledge of every race in this galaxy, yet they do not use it. It takes an ex-drone to use this knowledge. Don't you find that… wasteful?"

"I… believe it is, sir."

"They are complacent and lazy. But that still makes them dangerous. One touch, one scratch, and assimilation is guaranteed. Underestimating them is unwise."

Flashes in the distance signalled the arrival of a fleet of ships: all Klingon, Romulan and Federation, with Delta Alliance members interspersed.

"It appears the battle has been decided for us."

* * *

The Enterprise fired on a pair of Imperial Victory-Class destroyers, using the phasers to carve through the ships, using torpedoes to push them aside. The Raging Tempest used her pulse cannons to finish the job, crippling the VSD Crusader, sending it on a collision course with the planet.

"They might lack the sensors needed for detecting the Ra-cailum's cloak, but we can't risk them hitting the ship. Target the closest heavy destroyer and fire!"

* * *

"Take evasive action!" The Chimaera bucked as the ship veered to port, trying to avoid getting shot to pieces by the Raging tempest once again, and they succeeded in nearly making the ship crash into the Avenger.

Thrawn hmmed as he searched for the _Ra-Cailum_. The _Sovereign_-Class ship was a challenge he wanted to overcome, and he WOULD overcome it. "Sir, the _Overwatch_ is reporting critical battle damage from a flight of _Miranda_ and _B'rel_-class frigates; they're abandoning ship!" The old Venator exploded, overwhelmed by the 20 or so small attack ships. '_Weak, but aggressive. Pack hunters. Their captains are… VERY aggressive._'

The Imperials had 37 ships in orbit out of the original 65 members of the attack fleet (the other 28 had taken heavy damage and needed to pull out for repairs) and the Alliance had 91 ships, mostly small frigate-sized ships like the Sao Paulo and the Miranda, but their captains were vicious and ruthless while their larger capital ships (represented by the Enterprise, Bortasqu, Lleiset and the D'deridex-Class Khepsh) broadsided their destroyers. That being said, the Imperials had TIE fighters, and the Alliance didn't, giving the Empire's navy an advantage. A flight of Peregrines and Stalkers caught his eye as they attacked another Venator.

'_The 9th Tactical Fighter Wing. The _Ra-Cailum **IS** _here._' "Begin a sweep of the area. I want the _Ra-Cailum_ found."

"Captain," asked Pellaeon after relaying the Chiss's order, "Why that one ship?"

"Because Pinkerton is completely unpredictable," replied Thrawn. "The _Ra-Cailum_'s Captain sits astride that fine line between brilliance and madness—and an unpredictable enemy is the worst sort of enemy."

* * *

**USS **_**Raging Tempest**_

* * *

Takeshi opened up the throttle, pouring on the pulse cannon fire as he blitzed through the enemy lines. He was spinning, barrel-rolling, and somersaulting through the battlefield, just being a general nuisance to the Imperials in general. "Kim, what's the battlefield look like?" he asked.

"Like hell, sir! We've got TIEs and smaller capital ships gunning for us!"

The ship rocked from an impact from the _Avenger_'s turbolaser batteries, draining the shields to 79%. "Sir, I've got three squadrons of TIE bombers on our asses! Sensor scans indicate that they're carrying heavy ordinance: anti-ship torpedoes!"

"Tholra, fire up the point defense grid!" Takeshi ordered.

The Xindi-Reptilian nodded, before activating a set of Phaser turrets that spat out fire at the pursuing bombers.

The bombers fired off their ordinance, and one torpedo impacted the rear shields before the rest veered off, hitting Theta Wing. Takeshi winced as the _Brattain_'s rollbar exploded, followed by the port nacelle shearing off. The Mirandas of Theta Wing were always so fragile.

"Jeez, those guys are taking more casualties than they normally do," Takeshi remarked.

All the same, even though the bombers had released their ordinance, the point defense grid had taken a majority of them out, as well.

* * *

Ahsoka paid close attention to the sensors, watching the 9th TFW tear into the TIEs when she spotted more contacts approach. "Sir, I'm picking up a number of Kobali ships on approach, led by the _Samsar_, the _Manusi_, and the _Sotunde_."

16 Kobali ships, led by three of their prototype cruisers. Shon groaned in annoyance as the Kobali ships charged ahead of the Alliance fleet. '_If they want to get themselves killed, fine._'

"Pull us back!"

"Sir?"

"Provide the Kobali ships with support and try to keep them from getting killed!"

* * *

**ISD **_**Chimaera**_ **\- 3 hours into the battle**

* * *

Thrawn walked towards the forward viewport, where his leader was currently standing. "Lord Vader, may I speak with you a moment?" The Dark Lord of the Sith turned from the _Chimaera_'s forward viewport as a bright light signalled the destruction of a Kobali ship from the combined fire of the _Victory_-Class _Strikefast _and the _Venator_-Class _Ardent Dawn_.

"Yes, Captain Thrawn?"

"I have been studying the database we… _acquired_ from the _Gagarin_'s wreck. It appears the Kobali are experts at genetic manipulation. Perhaps greater than even the Kamino."

Vader's gaze, while hidden, was focused completely on Thrawn. "They are also sickening beings, reanimating the dead to serve their own purposes. _They took my wife_, Captain Thrawn; choose your next words well."

"While I must express no minor disgust at their method of reproduction, My Lord, I also must admit that they could be… useful to the Empire. The Jango Fett genetic material will eventually degrade, and we will need a new breed eventually. If the Kobali scientists could extend that useful lifespan, we could find a suitable replacement. After that… we will have no use for them. And the Kobali are already doomed to extinction; their biology is inherently self-destructive and their culture inflexible. Let them be a useful footnote."

Thrawn had a point. The Kobali _could_ be used for the Empire. And they would pay, SLOWLY, for their crime against nature.

"…Single them out, then. No fewer than ten thousand. But let me be clear, Captain. If they are of no use to us, there will be… _consequences_."

"I will see to it personally, Lord Vader."

"_Do not fail me… _Admiral _Thrawn_."

* * *

**USS **_**Ra-Cailum**_

* * *

Ron wore standard issue MACO commando armor, fixing the helmet to his head. "Ok, people, sound off." Beeps were heard from all of the 'Puella Magi', and Jaden let out a Mando'a reply.

It took three hours for the fleet to clear a path without making it look too obvious, but now the cloaked assault cruiser was en route to the upper atmosphere.

The seven-man team were currently in one of the ship's escape pods, and Jaden was looking at the rather… frilly outfits the five girls were wearing. They LOOKED like modified MACO battle armor, with added… well, he didn't know. "I don't know how it works, but their old Puella Magi outfits changed to fit the modern battlefield."

"…strange, but that's not the strangest thing I've heard from your universe," Jaden admitted, shaking his head. "Alright, what's our game plan?"

"The Ra-Cailum's going to approach the planet under cloak, and we're going to eject the pod we're in into the atmosphere. The term the MACOs like to use for troops doing this little maneuver is ODST: orbital drop shock trooper. And we're going to drop in and shock them into having heart attacks. Especially Homura."

"Why her?"

Ron smiled. "You'll see."

The pod rocked as the _Ra-Cailum_ grazed the atmosphere.

"_Ejecting pod. Good luck!_"

"Express elevator to hell, GOING DOWN!"

The Pod shot out of the ship, heading straight down.

* * *

The 501st Legion were fighting inside the city, firing at any Kobali they could see.

That was when they saw something coming in from above at high speed. It was a Starfleet escape pod.

And, unknowingly, the harbinger of their doom.

* * *

"YEEEEEEEHHHHAAAAWWWW!" Jaden shouted as the pod dropped. "BEST! RIDE! EVER!"

"DAMN RIGHT IT IS!"

Homura simply stood up before walking over to the entry hatch. "Permission to depart, Captain?"

"Granted! Give em hell!"

The hatch blew out…

And Homura jumped out of the escape pod.

Jaden glanced out. "You sure she should go out on her own like that?" he asked. "I know she can control time… apparently…"

"Trust me! There's a reason the MACOs nicknamed her 'the Hommando'!"

* * *

One of the clones looked up before they spotted something coming at them. "What the hell is that?!"

"It's… What the he—" The 'contact' then appeared right in front of them, turning out to be a little girl…

With a VERY big knife.

* * *

The pod impacted a position outside the city, and the other six stormed out, firing at anyone wearing white. Most of which were screaming and running AWAY from the city.

"She's still got it."

The girls simply shrugged, used to Homura's brutal methods when she fought the Klingons nine months earlier.

Jaden...

"…I need to get fucking _wasted_ when we get out of here…" He muttered.

"Trust me, the Klingons hate her. There isn't enough bloodwine in the UNIVERSE for what she does."

The girl in question walked out of the Kobali city, placing her combat knife into the shield that was on her left arm.

"Come on. The Imperials will launch a counterattack soon."

The team ran into the city, and Ron set up a forcefield to keep the clones from the main entrance. "So, who wants to kick the Kobali in the face for being stupid?"

* * *

Vader watched as several TIE/sa Bombers and their torpedo bays loaded up with a new weapon he had specially prepared for the Kobali. But they were not weapons in the conventional sense, not bombs or guided missiles… the weapons within these pods would mark the beginning of the end for the Kobali race, giving them the most… befitting end he could think of.

"My Lord," A lieutenant spoke as he walked towards Vader. "All of our troops have left the planet - the only forces we left behind are the Kazon troops we drafted."

"Excellent." The Dark Lord thrummed in his trademark deep growl. "Once the bombers are loaded, prepare for the bombardment. Once their mission is complete, begin moving the fleet out of the system."

"As you wish, my lord." The Lieutenant said, as he left to carry out his orders. Not long after, the TIE bombers were loaded up, and not long after they began launching from the Star Destroyers.

"_Flight lead to all Flight wings: Operation: Blackwing is go. Repeat: Operation Blackwing is go._"

This was a two-fold operation: glass the surface, then unleash the Blackwing Virus. The first part of the operation was complete: Kobali Prime was barren.

Now the survivors would suffer the virus.

* * *

Ron looked at the pathetic group. Less than 65000 Kobali, all 'reborn' from hundreds of races.

"General Q'nel, I presume."

The Kobali in question approached Ron, now missing an eye. "Captain. Here to gloat?"

"Oh, yes. I'm here to save your asses, then gloat at how STUPID you people are. You tried bringing Vader's wife back as one of YOU. You CORRUPTED my intentions, and now you're going to pay for it."

Q'nel shook his head. "I'm doing what I can to save my people!"

"You should've asked for help fixing your reproductive problems instead of stealing the dead! If there is anything I hate more than idiots, it's child molesters and grave robbers!"

"It's not that simple-"

"YES IT FUCKING IS!" Jaden snapped, causing everyone to jump in surprise. "Everything you are doing here is a fucking abomination! It's bad enough you deny these people fucking rest, but the few - FEW times they come back with the memories of their past lives, you _indoctrinate_ them to 'accept' being a totally new species that's STERILE!"

"We have no choice!"

"You had PLENTY of choices! Like asking to correct your fucking problem! The Feds would've GLADLY done it!"

Q'nel was unrepentant. "I do what I have to do, Mandalorian. The survival of my race depends on it, and your people do the same thing!"

Jaden was silent for a few moments, as an aura of doom seemed to be given off on him. Eventually, Jaden punched the Kobali in the face sending him to the ground. "DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING COMPARE YOUR PEOPLE TO MINE, ASSHOLE!" he shouted. "We bring people into our civilization by their own free will! They CHOOSE to become Mando! And they are still ALIVE when they make that choice! What _you _do is take that choice away! You _rip them_ from the afterlife, and _force _them to become one of you as a bunch of ZOMBIES! There were _PLENTY _of alternatives you could've done to 'save' your race, but you just picked the single most immoral option you could think of!"

The ground shook as the building they were in was hit with turbolaser fire. "Hey, big guy! We got a LOT of bucketheads comin' in, led by someone in a black black suit!"

The stormtroopers, which Kyoko insulted, they could live with.

NOT the 'guy in the black suit'. "Well, shit."

* * *

The man formerly known as Anakin Skywalker set the starfighter's autopilot to "hover", popped the hatch, and jumped out in one fluid motion, using the Force to cushion his fall as his cape flared behind him. He landed easily, his knees bending to catch his bulk, and ignited his lightsaber. Which he pointed at the supremely unlucky General Q'Nel.

"_You. _You are the leader of the Kobali, are you not?"

Ron took several judicious steps aside. "Just to double-check, did the Security Council decide or not yet?" he whispered to a MACO, coincidentally Sayaka.

"Not yet; they're still in subcommittees," she whispered back.

Q'Nel wet his pants in terror. Ron sighed and stepped forwards, igniting his own lightsaber. "Honestly, as much as I want to let you beat the shit out of this sanctimonious hypocrite, I'm still under orders to stop you, Anakin."

"_That man is dead_," growled Vader. He wasn't specific, but at this point it didn't really matter; he was pissed, and the Kobali was going to die. "My quarrel is not with you, Pinkerton."

Jaden surreptitiously drew his blasters as another legion of stormtroopers emerged from the landing shuttles. Ron stood firm. "Sorry, Tall, Dark, and Intimidating, but I'm under orders here."

Vader's glove clenched. "Then you will die with them."

He raised his lightsaber, but out of nowhere, Homura's communicator chimed with the sound of a girl's delighted laugh. All eyes turned to the diminutive commando, who blushed deeply and pulled up the message. Then she smiled like a snake and sheathed her knife. "Time to go!"

Ron held up an index finger to the mystified Vader. "One moment?" Vader, nonplussed, nodded. The ex-drone checked his own communicator, and began to snicker. "Oh, man. Q'Nel, I can't say I'm sorry, but you brought this one on yourself. Move out, people! We are hereby ordered to engage in a fighting retreat from Kobali Prime." Q'Nel began to protest, but Vader's hand shot out and the Kobali was pulled into the air with a wheeze.

"This changes nothing, Pinkerton," warned the Sith lord. "I may respect you, but our nations are still enemies."

"I don't think he cares, Vader," Jaden said shrugging, "Oh, and you're welcome by the way… make these fuckers _suffer_ for us, please?"

"I intend to…" Vader said, before several TIE/sa bombers flew overhead. However instead of dropping bombs, they released a trail of brownish-colored gas into the air as they flew over the city.

Jaden pointed up at the passing bombers. "What was that?" He asked.

"Go into the city, and find out." Vader said, as he diverted his attention towards Q'Nel's own suffering.

"We kinda have to if we're gonna reach the Evac site…" Homura said.

"We'll hijack an Imperial shuttle. There has to be PLENTY of those."

* * *

**ISD **_**Chimaera**_

* * *

"Admiral, multiple attack craft are inbound to the planet. Our database identifies them as Vaadwaur."

Thrawn nodded in acknowledgement. "Signal the attack groups to move in and prepare to glass the planet."

Pellaeon blanched at the order, then remembered what the Kobali were and how expendable the Kazon were.

"Base Delta Zero has been ordered. Repeat, Base Delta Zero is ordered."

* * *

Mami fired her weapons at two 'troopers before the team reached a barely functioning transporter. "Ok, I'll get to work fixing this thing, then we're going back to the ship! Cover me!" ron ripped up a floor panel and began working on the unit itself before the older girl tapped Jaden's shoulder.

"Mami?" he asked. "What is it?" She pulled out her tricorder, and typed a few commands in it before words popped up on the tricorder.

'_I'm picking up an imperial transmission on the Comm's,_' The message read. '_Do you have any idea what a Base Delta Zero is?_'

...Jaden damn near shat himself as his eyes widned. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" He shouted.

"What? What's going on?" A wall of green rain began impacting the ground outside the city and the mountains. "Oh, fuck me. They're glassing the planet." Ron kicked the transporter's pattern buffer before the device hummed with power. "I've jury rigged it to beam us out before it auto-destructs! Get onto the platforms, NOW!"

They didn't need to be told twice before the group leaped onto the transporter pad, and a few moments later they were transported off of the planet, just before their position was bombarded with a wave of turbolaser fire.

* * *

Shon watched as the Ra-Cailum retreated from Kobali Prime as the Imperials took advantage of the Vaadwaur's arrival and began glassing the planet.

"If it weren't so destructive, I'd call it beautiful. Like rain falling."

Ahsoka shook her head. "They might be zombies, but life is life. They should've asked for your help."

"They didn't, commander. Get us out of here."

The Enterprise spun 180 degrees before the Raging Tempest and the Ra-Cailum joined formation and jumped to warp.

* * *

Less than ten thousand survivors, all infected with the Blackwing virus. Thrawn's advice would save them for now, as they would be given injections that would keep the virus from killing them. But they would never recover.

"Lord Vader! A Vaadwaur ship is landing outside the ruins, sir! They're requesting to meet with you!"

The dark lord turned to the Jango clone trooper. "Inform them that I will greet them in person."

* * *

Gaul, leader of the Vaadwaur Supremacy, enjoyed the sound and the feel of what had until recently been soil crunching and snapping beneath his boots.

"Darth Vader. Artist to artist, I admire the work."

"I was not the sole composer," wheezed the masked figure. "You may thank Admiral Thrawn for the enslavement of the remaining Kobali and Grand Admiral Piett for carrying out my orders most efficiently."

"Regardless," replied Gaul with a warm smile, "you have done me and the Vaadwaur Supremacy a great favor. My… erstwhile allies, in this universe, have proven themselves… _untrustworthy_. I shall have to… clean house, as it were."

"And I assume that you are in search of new allies?" growled the Sith.

"Precisely. And who better to ally myself and the Supremacy with than those who have already done us such a great favor?"

"What does the Galactic Empire gain from this alliance," hissed Vader.

"My scouts and… _agents_ inform me that you have not yet duplicated all of the systems common to this universe. The technology given to me by my former allies is considerably advanced even here; it would be remiss of me to not consider sharing it with you as an option."

"I believe, Overseer Gaul," growled Vader, holding out a hand, "that the Emperor will be most amenable to your proposal. Now, if you will excuse me… I must _deal with_ some most troublesome Kobali."

* * *

**Jenolan Dyson Sphere**

* * *

Ron watched as dozens of Kobali from the cruisers were herded into medical centers, some being beamed from the surface. "Rutia says the Kobali are all infected with some sort of virus. Anything you can share, Jaden?"

"Do I look like I have a PHD?" Jaden asked. "It's obviously part of whatever it was that Vader sprayed into the atmosphere, so long as it doesn't infect _us _we'll be fine."

"Either way, we've got Level-5 quarantine procedures in place, and everyone that was down there got their shots." Jaden winced at the idea of getting ANOTHER injection of Borg nanoprobes. Relentless or not, he didn't want Borg tech in his body.

Sayaka kicked her feet up onto the desk. "Well, it's not like it can infect us! We're zombies already!"

"Liches, Miki. And put your feet down."

Sayaka glared at the black haired girl before ignoring her advice. Followed by her being sent on her ass by leaning back too far.

The Mandalorian and ex-drone ignored them. "The dead are being sent to the morgue. Where they belong. A fitting end to a race of zombies, no?"

"Hopefully whoever they were _before_ they were Kobali can rest in peace now…" Jaden said with a sigh.

* * *

**Ron the True Fan: Brains… BRAINS…**

**117Jorn: What? You think we wouldn't cash in on the Zombie bandwagon eventually? It's getting George A. Romero in here now :D**

**Ron the True Fan: Special thanks to Worffan101 for helping us OBLITERATE the Kobali. ...Sort of. Eh, zombies. BURN EM!**

**Takeshi Yamato: Well, we've still got a bit to deal with, either way. And was anyone expecting the Puella Magi Madoka Magica crew to make an appearance?**

**(Everyone looks suspiciously at Ron)**

**Ron the True Fan: what?**

**Ja Ne!**


End file.
